As game day five got underway, it was a crucial meeting between Oceláři Třinec and Storhamar Hamar in Group E action of the Champions Hockey League, with both teams desperately needing a win to keep their chances of qualification alive.

Coming into the matchup, Třinec had a better chance of making the next round but still needed results elsewhere to go their way if they could beat Storhamar, while the Norwegian side needed literally everything to go perfectly to have any chance of advancing.

It was a dream start for Storhamar as the visiting team at the Werk Arena, as in the third minute Robin Dahlstrøm was alone in front to put them a goal ahead, for his first of the tournament, while on the other end of the ice Oskar Östlund turned away all 12 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes to make it a 1-0 game at the end of the first.

Coming out in the second period, Třinec got their game going, starting early as an incredible display of passing ability lead to Ondřej Kovařčík beating Östlund to tie the game. After Storhamar ran into penalty trouble later in the period giving the hosts a 5-on-3 powerplay to work with, Tomáš Marcinko tipped the puck into the net after a patient play from Roberts Bukarts saw the 28-year-old find a tape-to-tape pass out in front for the simple redirection for a 2-1 advantage through 40 minutes.

Early in the final frame, Storhamar had an opportunity to level the score but Patrick Thoresen failed to add his fifth goal in this year’s CHL as he fanned on the puck, but just moments later they got their goal as Erik Salsten cut across the blue line, firing his wrist shot across the body of Hamerlík to tie it up at two a piece with less than 15 minutes left to play.

With time winding down and Storhamar needing all three points to keep their hopes alive, and despite coming under a lot of pressure, Storhamar finally got the go ahead goal with less than 90 seconds to play, a perfect pass from Victor Svensson found Patrick Thorensen to redirect the puck past Hamerlík. Třinec unable to respond, Storhamar kept their hopes alive will last year’s third place team Oceláři Třinec saw their chances disappear after the late goal.