- Storhamar needed a regulation win and Tappara to win in regulation to keep qualification hopes alive
- Three-point night for Patrick Thoresen
- Třinec finish bottom of Group E after a third place finish last year
Storhamar Hamar came into their final group game needing a regulation win over Oceláři Třinec as well as needing Tappara Tampere to defeat Djurgården Stockholm in regulation to move on to the next round.
Storhamar had a lot of pressure to start the game, but couldn’t capitalise on an effort just seconds into the game which could have given them a dream start.
As the game opened up midway through the opening period, however, Storhamar managed to finally break through. A lovely pass that went between the legs of the defenseman from Joakim Jensen set up Lars Løkken Østli for the games opening goal, and just a few minutes later they added another. An initial shot by Mikael Zettergren was tucked in on the rebound by Martin Rønnild for a 2-0 lead, with Storhamar needing to hope results elsewhere were going their way to keep their hopes alive.
With Storhamar taking a stranglehold on the game, they kept their two-goal cushion into the first break, outshooting Třinec 9-7 in front of their home crowd.
It didn’t take long at all in the second period for Storhamar to grab another, 27 chipped over the pads as the puck fell out in front of Peter Hamerlík for a 3-0 lead, but Třinec were out to try and spoil the party, cutting it to a one-goal game midway through the second period with goals from Jiří Polanský and Vladimír Svačina, but then a goal from Aaron Irving off a great feed from Patrick Thoresen reopened a two-goal advantage for Storhamar to make it a 4-2 game with 20 minutes remaining.
With the news of Tappara’s commanding lead over Djurgården surely coming through to the Storhamar locker room in the second-period break, it meant Storhamar were just 20 minutes from potentially making the round of 16.
With an early power play opportunity to start the final period, Storhamar wasted no time trying to ensure they got the three points they needed as it was captain Thoresen again on the board, tucking in a rebound for his sixth of the tournament and then it was brother Steffen Thoresen making it 6-2 just moments later as Storhamar were cruising their way into the next round.