In their first CHL game since winning the European Trophy, Lulea Hockey hosted their familiar rivals, Lukko Rauma, and beat them 4–3 in a shootout. KalPa Kuopio also needed a shootout to beat Ocelari Trinec, while JYP Jyvaskyla shut out the Sheffield Steelers and the ZSC Lions won in Berlin.
Eisbaren Berlin 3–6 ZSC Lions Zurich
HIGHLIGHTS
ZSC stormed out of the gate with three goals in the first period, watched Eisbaren storm back to tied it early in the third, then recollected themselves and score three more to put themselves in the driver's seat in Group P, having taken the maximum 6 points from their two away games. Roman Wick scored twice for the Lions, both times in the first period, and Chris Baltisberger scored perhaps the biggest goal of the game – the winner – in the 49th minute. Robert Nilsson had 2 assists. For Eisbaren, Micki Dupont, Darrin Olver and Marcel Noebels each contributed a goal and an assist.
After the game, ZSC coach Marc Crawford was asked about coaching against Uwe Krupp, who played for him in Colorado. "The old teacher beats the student tonight," he quipped, before adding about Eisbaren: "I think they are going to be an exciting team."
As for Krupp, he concentrated more on the game itself, saying, "The tendency after the game is to say, 'This wasn’t a good game for us.' I don’t think so. I had the feeling that we were closer to the fourth goal than Zurich was. When they scored their fourth, that was at an unfortunate time for us."
KalPa Kuopio 4–3 Ocelari Trinec (SO)
HIGHLIGHTS
It was a tough opening road trip for Trinec, as they come up with just 1 point from the two games in Stavanger and Kuopio. They trailed 3–2 after two periods this game before Kamil Kreps tied it midway through the third. David Nosek had 2 assists for the visitors, while Sami Mutanen had 2 assists for Kuopio and Miika Pitkanen scored 2 goals, including the shootout-winner.
"Naturally the game wasn't satisfying but at this time of the year it shouldn't be," said KalPa coach Pekka Virta after his team's first competitive game of the season. "We created enough scoring opportunities to win in regulation time but didn't manage to score. The learning process is going on right now. We will work hard be better next week."
"We played much better than in Norway, but we made two big mistakes in neutral zone. I guess that's the reason we lost," Trinec coach Jiri Kalous assessed. "When we were trailing it was perfect when we scored and it was tied again. In the end it's a bit about luck when you go to the shootout. After two loses we must prepare our team for the next game better."
JYP Jyvaskyla 3–0 Sheffield Steelers
HIGHLIGHTS
It was a much stronger and more disciplined effort from the Steelers in their second game, but they still lost to JYP to end a tough two-game road trip against elite Nordic opponents. After being burned by the Frolunda power play on Thursday, Sheffield didn't take a penalty until late in the second period. Tyler Plante stopped 49 of 52 shots in the Sheffield goal, while Tuomas Tarkki stopped all 27 he faced to record the shutout. Joonas Nattinen and Joose Antonen recorded 2 points each for JYP.
Lulea Hockey 4–3 Lukko Rauma (SO)
HIGHLIGHTS
This was one of the more anticipated games of the opening weekend and it certainly lived up to expectations. 65 minutes of hockey wasn't enough to produce a winner, so it went to a shootout. Bill Sweatt scored twice in the shootout for Lulea, including the winner in the sixth round to give his team the bonus point. During regulation time, three times Lulea took the lead and three times Lukko replied. In addition to his 2 shootout goals, Sweat also had 2 assists, while Jacob Micflikier scored 2 goals and Brendan Mickelson and Craig Schira also had 2 points each. For Lukko, Turo Asplund, Sami Lahteenmaki and Toni Koivistu scored the goals and Janne Lahti had 2 assists.
“We took some unnecessary penalties, we played pretty undisciplined and that gave them three 5-on-3 opportunities. But Joel Lassinantti saved us several times and had a real good game,” said Lulea coach Joakim Fagervall. He also praised his star players: “Those that are here to deliver did so. Our star players did their jobs really well tonight.”
“It was a tough loss, but we played better here than in our game in Fribourg yesterday. But we had a tough trip over here and with a game late Thursday and this early game it takes its toll on the players,” reasoned Lukko assistant caoch Juha Vuori. About the game he said, “It was a really nice game for us. Lulea is a top team in Europe and they have a lot of speed, strength and skill. Facing them is good training for us.”