TPS Turku vs Bili Tygri Liberec

These two teams played a very close game when they met in Liberec a week ago, with TPS winning in a shootout. TPS now go into this one at home with a three-point lead over Liberec.

A regulation win tonight for TPS will be good enough not only to put them through to the next round, but also to go through as winners of the group too. A two-point win would give the Finns the tie-break advantage over Liberec and mean they cannot finish below the Czechs, should the teams be level at the end of the group stage. For the White Tigers, anything less than a win would mean they travel to Lorenskog next week in great need of the points to make the next round. 

"They're a very good team," acknowledges TPS forward Eric Perrin. "We saw last Friday that they're a very fast-skating team, but also a little bit physical, so I think this time we have to give some of that physicality back to them and show them how we play the game here in Turku, in our arena." 

"It will be another tough game," figures Liberec defenceman Radim Simek. "They're a really good team but I thought we should have won last time. We had some chances in the third period, but unfortunately in overtime and the shootout we just couldn't get it done. Getting points will be key. Three would be great, but anything we can get will take some pressure off of us heading into Norway."