The opening day of the Champions Hockey League playoffs saw six of the eight round-of-16 ties play their opening games, with the other two going Wednesday night. Färjestad Karlstad, Red Bull Salzburg, and the Växjö Lakers all have narrow one-goal leads, the Zurich Lions lead by two, and the Pinguins Bremerhaven and defending champion Genève-Servette have huge five-goal advantages.
The eight return games will be played next week at the homes of this week’s visiting teams. The winners on aggregate scores will advance. No overtime will be played if the first game ends tied.
Tappara Tampere (FIN) 2 – Färjestad Karlstad (SWE) 3
Playing on home ice, Tappara was up 2-0 early in the second period on an assist and a goal by Hugo Gallet. But Färjestad hasn’t lost yet in the CHL this year and came back to win this one as well, with Axel Bergkvist and Marián Studenič recording two points each. New acquisition Andrej Šustr made his Tappara debut – John Quenneville did not.
Lahti Pelicans (FIN) 1 – Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) 2
A third-period goal on a brilliant solo effort by Troy Bourke is the difference between these two teams after 60 minutes, giving Austrian champion Salzburg a one-goal lead on home ice next week. Salzburg could have been up by more, but the Pelicans can thank goaltender Jasper Patrikainen and his 31 saves for keeping his team within striking distance.
Växjö Lakers (SWE) 1 – Fribourg-Gottéron (SUI) 0
Elias Rosén scored the game's only goal in the middle of the second period and the Växjö Lakers overall played a solid defensive game. Goaltenders Reto Berra and Adam Åhman both came up big on occasions, with Åhman making 14 saves for the shutout.
Straubing Tigers (GER) 2 – ZSC Lions Zurich (SUI) 4
Denis Malgin opened and closed the scoring and added one assist, and linemate Sven Andrighetto also had three points to pace the offense. Tim Brunnhuber's goal midway through the second period gave Straubing a 2-1 lead, but Zurich came back strong after that, and head home up by two.
Pinguins Bremerhaven (GER) 5 – Skellefteå AIK (SWE) 0
In the day's most surprising result, the Pinguins scored four times in the first period against the defending Swedish champion and last season's CHL runner-up, then cruised to victory, getting goals from five different scorers. Dominik Uher stopped all 29 shots he faced for the shutout.
Lausanne HC (SUI) 0 – Genève-Servette (SUI) 5
In this clash between two regional rivals, Lausanne outshot Genève 29-27 but veteran goalie Antti Raanta was in fine form, posting a shutout. Finns also contributed to Genève's offense, with Markus Granlund recording two points. Genève, the CHL's defending champion, will almost certainly advance to the quarterfinals.
Wednesday’s games:
Sparta Prague (CZE) – Ocelaři Třinec (CZE)
Sheffield Steelers (GBR) – Eisbären Berlin (GER)