HK Nitra return home to host HC Pilsen.
Nitra and Pilsen are each playing their second games following trips to Norway. Up north, Nitra fell 2-1 to the Stavanger Oilers, while Pilsen beat them 3-0. Now the two teams will face each other for the first time since the 1990-91 season, when they both played in the Czechoslovakian Extraliga.
The game is especially important to Nitra, who want to get their first points of the competition and get out of the group basement. It's also their first game at home.
“We're looking forward to it,” said captain Branislav Mezei. “After a long time, we play at home in front of our fans and I believe that we can win. We want to play good hockey and if we do that, I think we can be successful.”
Mezei, who played 19 games for Pilsen in the 2009-10 season, went on to say that “Pilsen is a really good team. The players are fast, powerful, and still technically sound. They have a great power play, attacking all the way to the maximum. We have to pay attention to everybody, but particularly dangerous could be Dominik Kubalik on the wing.”
Nitra would be wise to keep an eye on the young Kubalik, who figured in on all three of Pilsen's goals in Stavanger.