Sebastian Dahm made 22 saves for his first Champions Hockey League shutout as KAC Klagenfurt shut out the Rouen Dragons 4-0 to take a commanding lead atop Group G with two games left for each team. After needing extra time to win their first two games on home ice, Klagenfurt won both away games by a combined 9-1 score.

Against Donbass Donetsk on Thursday night, the Rouen fans were a boost to their team and they seemed to be in the early going of this one too, with the Dragons getting most of the big chances and drawing a couple of power plays. In the 10th minute, Dahm made a couple of big saves off Quentin Tomasino and Théo Gueurif.

Klagenfurt opened the scoring at 12:37 just after killing off their second penalty. Top Scorer Nicholas Petersen started the play with a pass to Phillip Bruggisser, who relayed across the front of the net to Lukas Haudum at the back door.

The goal seemed to motivate Klagenfurt, who held the edge in play for the rest of the opening period and well into the second, forcing Matija Pintarič to make several big stops to keep his team within striking distance. Then around the middle of the period came Klagenfurt’s first powerplay of the game and, as was the case in reverse in the first period, Rouen seemed to gain some momentum from the kill and went back on the offensive for a few minutes. However, it was Klagenfurt putting on the pressure again in the late going, with Manuel Ganahl coming very close to doubling the lead in the last minute.

Through 40 mintues, Klagenfurt were outshooting Rouen 24-15.

Matthew Fraser gave Klagenfurt a 2-0 lead on a brilliant individual effort in the second minute of the third period. Three minutes later, Rouen thought they’d gotten one back when a shot through a crowd deflected by Dahm, but the play was reviewed and it was determined that Top Scorer Loïc Lampérier’s deflection in front was above the height of the crossbar, so it was no goal.

That disappointment certainly deflated the home team and Rok Tičar finished off a nice passing play on a rush to make it 3-0 at 45:50. At this point, the game was essentially decided.

Fraser added his second of the night on the power play with 6:37 to go to make it 4-0 and the rest was up to Dahm and the defence, who were tested on a late Rouen power play but ultimately emerged with the shutout and, more importantly, three points.