Vaxjo-Munich a battle of two recent European upstarts
In recent years the Vaxjo Lakers have become one of the Swedish Hockey League's top teams, winning their first title in 2015. That hasn't translated into much success in the CHL, however, with the club failing to reach the Round of 16 so far. They'll try to change that this year, but standing in their way is Red Bull Munich – another team that has recently ascended domestically, winning their first DEL title in 2016. This match-up would seem to pit the firepower of the Lakers against the tight-checking defence of the Red Bulls – the Swedish team will try to open up the play and make these two games all about speed, and if that happens the Bavarian squad doesn't stand a chance. Munich will try to slow these games down and win in the trenches, which is really their only shot.
The Vaxjo Lakers finished first place in Group L, but disposing of Yunost Minsk and BK Mlada Boleslav was far from an easy task for them. While offence wasn't a problem, defence was at times against opponents from supposedly inferior leagues. They started by hosting Mlada Boleslav in a loosely played first period that was tied 3-3, before finding their game and eventually winning 7-3. Their next game in Minsk was a back-and-forth affair, with Yunost eventually winning 4-3 in overtime. Their road woes continued in Mlada Boleslav, where they allowed a late tying goal and lost in a shootout. They hosted Yunost in the last group game, with both teams already through but top spot in the group at stake – here the Lakers came through with their best start-to-finish effort of the season with a 4-0 win.
Munich had a tough start to the CHL season this year with a 3-0 loss against Fribourg-Gotteron. In their second game in Znojmo, they trailed 2-1 after two periods and were in danger of falling into the group basement, but they rallied for three straight goals in the third to win 4-3. From their last two group games on home ice, the Red Bulls needed only a single point to advance, but Don Jackson's team did better than that, taking all six. First it was a 3-1 win over Fribourg, followed by a 7-0 shellacking of Znojmo. While they finished up the group stage strong, those returning members from last year's team know that doesn't mean anything – last year they had a perfect group stage, only to get bounced in the Round of 32 by Finnish club Lukko Rauma. This year's opponents will be no easier – the Vaxjo Lakers from Sweden.
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