Litvinov, Storhamar and Karpat led off their Round of 32 series with road wins, while Eisbaren Berlin and Djurgarden wrapped up the day with wins at home.
Djurgarden Stockholm 4–3 Vaxjo Lakers
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In a game between two SHL rivals, Djurgarden took an early 2-goal lead and Vaxjo spent the rest of the night trying to catch up. They came within a goal three times, but could never manage the equalizer. Robin Alvarez had 2 assists for Djurgarden and Fredrik Forsberg scored the winner with 14:59 to play. Joakim Hillding scored for Vaxjo to make it 4–3 a couple of minutes later and they pressed hard the rest of the way, but couldn't get another goal. They will now have 60 minutes on home ice to try to draw even.
“It felt really good,” said an obviously happy and probably tired Djurgarden goalie Mantas Armalis, who stopped 37 of 40 shots. About Vaxjo, he said, “They are hard to play against. They have a lot of traffic and makes it hard for us in every way when they forecheck us and play the puck around in our zone. It's no easy opponent we're playing.”
“I think we played a pretty okay game, now we have played 60 of 120 minutes,” said Vaxjo coach Sam Hallam.
Eisbaren Berlin 3–0 Stavanger Oilers
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Eisbaren Berlin didn't impress a lot of people in the group stage, but played a strong game against the Stavanger Oilers in their home leg in this Round of 32. It began as a goaltending duel beween Berlin's Petri Vehanen and Stavanger's Henrik Holm, with the first goal not coming until late in the second period, when Julian Talbot struck on the power play. They added 2 more goals in the third period, and will now take a 3-goal lead into Game 2 in Norway.
“We started well, but we didn’t create chances. It was a dangerous game – it wasn't a surprise – Stavanger are a good team,” said Berlin head coach Uwe Krupp. Goal-scorer Talbot added, “Yeah it's huge to get the 3–0 lead, now we have to go there. But it's a good start.”
“I thought we started a bit slow,” said Stavanger coach Petter Thoresen. “Berlin had some good scoring chances in the opening 20 and we were lucky to still be in it. At the end today I don't think we played well enough with the puck to get enough scoring chances. We need to play better 5-on-5 at home to make the next round.”
Dusseldorfer EG 0–2 Karpat Oulu
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Karpat Oulu continued their dominance of their CHL opponents so far this season with their fifth straight regulation victory and their fourth shutout – they have allowed only 1 goal so far. Sebastian Aho scored in the 15th minute, then Esa Pirnes on the power play in the first minute of the second, and that was more than enough offence for Sami Aittokallio, who now has a miniscule goal-against average of 0.20 and an eye-popping save percentage of 99.11.
“Of course we are satisfied with a 2–0 win but we were not playing as I expected,” said Karpat coach Lauri Marjamaki, who clearly has high standards for his team. “We took too many penalties but our special teams were strong. Dusseldorf were dangerous on the power play, but thanks to our goalie they didn’t score. In two weeks we have to play better.”
“We played a very good game,” figured Dusseldorf coach Christof Kreutzer. “Only a few shots against us. Our penalty killing was good as well. We had no luck on offence tonight. We played against a very tough defence and the rest was caught by a great goaltender. My team made only two big mistakes and those lead to the goals. We still have a chance in two weeks to win.”
Dusseldorf defenceman Stephan Daschner echoed his coach's confidence level, stating, “We won't give up. We can walk with heads held high. It was a tough game against the national champion of Finland. Two goals is not insurmountable in hockey so no worries.”
Red Bull Salzburg 1–3 Storhamar Hamar
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Without their starting goalie and some of their top players, Red Bull Salzburg turned in a gutsy effort on home ice, outshooting Storhamar 37–23. However, Storhamar capitalized on more of their chances and came out with a 3–1 win to take back to Norway. The second period was especially damaging, where Salzburg led 17–8 in shots but Storhamar scored twice – Jacob Berglund shorthanded and Christian Larrivee on the power play. Kris Beach was the only Salzburg shooter to beat Oskar Ostlund, as Storhamar continue to get great performances from both goalies.
“I think we wanted the game more,” said Larrivee, Storhamar's captain. “We played tight defensively, and I think we won the battles overall. We knew that they were dangerous, but I think we won the battles in our zone and the offensive zone, and it was a good win for us. We know that we can match them, but they have power and you never know. We have to try to finish it off at home.”
“The result was very frustrating,” a clearly disappointed Salzburg coach Dan Ratushny said afterward. “We had more shots on goal than our opponents. The guys did a good job, but they didn't finish off their many great chances. They maybe deserved a better result. So now it will be a very tough challenge in Norway in two weeks but we will work hard to reach our goal to get to the next round. We have to score more – that's the only way we have a chance.”
Vienna Capitals 3–4 HC Litvinov
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After one period, it looked like Litvinov would run away with the win in Vienna, and almost assure their spot in the next round. They led 4–1, thanks to 2 points each from Frantisek Lukes and Vitkor Hubl. After that, however, goalie David Kickert, who entered the game after the second Litvinov goal, was perfect, stopping all 13 shots. Meanwhile, the Capitals turned up the offence, firing 48 shots at Michal Petrasek, and scored a goal late in the second and another early in the third to come within a goal, setting up an interesting Game 2 in Litvinov.
“That second goal really took the wind out of us,” Kickert said about the goal which promted Vienna coach Jim Bonni to make the goaltending change and put him in. “It wasn't a good goal but the boys fought back real hard and the situation for the next game isn't that bad – we're only down one goal, and we're in with a chance now.”
Litvinov captain Michal Travnicek, who had 1 assist in the game, commented, “We had a good first period, then we just tried to control the game but got a bit behind it. That said, I think we controlled most of it by the end. We have a very good chance now with our home game to make the next round.”