Five games set to complete Game Day 5

Tonight sees five games rounding off the penultimate Game Day in this season's Champions Hockey League.

Staff writers

Remember that you can check out all the maths and possibilities for each group by reading our article!

Vitkovice Ostrava vs. Neman Grodno

Group I; Ostrava Arena, 17:30

It's advantage to Vitkovice as they face Neman Grodno in the east of the Czech Republic this evening. The Ostrava side have a win in Grodno behind them, plus still have a game to play in Mannheim if it all goes wrong tonight. That said, they could travel to the Adler a whole lot easier if they were to win tonight in any shape or form.

"It’s hard to say what to expect. I don’t think they will change their tactics much from the first game. I hope they won’t have so many power plays here. We know this could be the crucial game," says Vitkovice goal Pavel Kantor. "We have two games in front of us and we have to win at least one of them to advance. It wouldn’t be ideal for sure to leave it for the very last game, so we will do everything we can to win this one."

"All of us are seriously preparing for tomorrow's match. At home we unfortunately lost – but we have learned about how Vitkovice play and tonight our fate will be decided in the Champions League," added Neman defenceman Sergei Bogoleisha. "We are only satisfied with a victory, and with that we would go into the playoffs. So we will fight only to win the game."

Grenoble vs. Espoo Blues

Group F; Patinoire Pole Sud, 19:30

It simply has to be a win tonight for Grenoble if they're to give themselves a fighting chance of making the next round. Espoo still have a game in hand in Litvinov to come, however for Grenoble it's win – by three, or by 5–3 and higher – to keep their chances alive. "We still have one game, and it's in Grenoble – we're still in the game, we're not beaten yet," says Grenoble forward Christophe Tartari. "We will fight until the end and we will wait for the result. We want to win this last game."

Fribourg-Gotteron vs. Lulea Hockey

Group K; BCF Arena, 19:45

Defending champions Lulea have two games left to try and secure top spot in their group, and that starts tonight with a visit to Switzerland. Fribourg are mathematically eliminated from this year's CHL, so for them the game is just about pride – however, for Lulea it's also about continuing to get better. "It's been good to have a mix of rest and practice to work on things we can do better and improve on," says Brendan Mikkelson, whose Lulea side didn't play in the last round. "We want to keep improving. Fribourg have abilities to capitalise on creating chances, and the players that can really burn you if you give them the opportunities. We need to take away space and time to make it tough for them."

ZSC Lions vs. Eisbaren Berlin

Group P; Eishalle Deutweg Winterthur, 19:45

It's a free game for the ZSC Lions, as they have already qualified for the next round. Berlin, on the other hand, need just a point to secure their spot in the next stage, although do still have to visit Gap (where they could lose by five goals and still make it!) in their final game if they still needed to pick up a result. "It was important for us that we bounced back from the game aganst Zurich," said Bruno Gevais on the home win over Gap. "We've been at home for two games, so now it feels like time to go on the road. We want to build on our work in the past couple of weeks, and focus on what we do."

Djurgarden Stockholm vs. EV Zug

Group B; Hovet Arena, 20:00

Zug's slim chances of making the next round start tonight in Stockholm. The NLA side know exactly what they need to do to qualify, which is simply to win two games in regulation as they visit Djurgarden and Tappara over the closing stages. A 2-point win would also do in Tappara, but would mean that they'd have to have won tonight's game in regulation, and by two goals (or higher than 4-3).

"This is a game where we want to be victorious to secure a place in round of 16. It will be a hard game because they have surely worked hard since last game in Switzerland which by the way was very tough" says Djurgraden's Markus Ljungh. "Their only chance to stay in the tournament is to win against us. A draw is enough for us to advance but we are going out to win."

"The game last week showed that we shouldn't be scared of Djurgarden – and if we could win in Stockholm, we would then travel to Finland with high self-belief," commented Zug's Sport Director Veto Klay. "After the game at home to Tappara, we owe it to ourselves to get a result there!"