State of play in Group A: Wolfsburg could clinch
Tappara lead the Group, Wolfsburg are the next best-placed (Photo: Mika Kylmäniemi)
Regardless of what happens from here on out, Tappara Tampere are through as winners of Group A. The other three teams are now vying for second place, and the team with the best chance to do that is Grizzlys Wolfsburg, who have a three-point lead on the other two. If either Red Bull Salzburg or HC05 Banská Bystrica are to do it, they'll have to win both of their remaining games.
| Group A | Pts | GP | W | OW | L | OL | GF | GA | Dif |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Tappara Tampere – Q | 12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | + 15 |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 14 | – 6 | |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 15 | – 4 | |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 13 | –5 |
What's at stake:
Tappara
- have already clinched 1st place in the group.
- can still be caught in points by Wolfsburg, but Tappara holds the tiebreaker, having won both head-to-head meetings.
Wolfsburg
- will clinch with a regulation victory at home to Salzburg on Tuesday. This would put Salzburg 6 points in arrears with only one game left, and Banská Bystrica could get no closer than 3, but the Grizzlys hold the tiebreaker by winning both head-to-head match-ups.
- If they get only 2 points on Tuesday, they could clinch on Wednesday if Banská Bystrica get 2 or fewer points.
- If they lose, would not clinch this week, but would get another chance on Gameday 6.
Salzburg
- need to win in Wolfsburg in order to keep alive their hopes of advancing.
- If they win in regulation time, then a win of any type at home on Gameday 6 would be enough to overtake Wolfsburg in the standings.
- Likewise, if they win the first game in overtime or shootout and the second game in regulation time. In either of these cases, however, they'd have to be mindful of Banská Bystrica taking the maximum 6 points from Tappara, which would vault them ahead of both teams.
- If Salzburg were to take the maximum 6 points themselves, 2nd place is theirs, as they would win the head-to-head tiebreaker with Banská Bystrica.
Banská Bystrica
- must take the maximum 6 points from their two games against Tampere and hope that neither Wolfsburg nor Salzburg reach 9 points in order to advance.
- would lose the tiebreaker against Wolfsburg due to losing both head-to-head match-ups, and would also lose the tiebreaker with Salzburg due to being outscored 8-5 in their head-to-head matchups.
- must first hope that the Grizzlys don't win in regulation time on Tuesday, and then win themselves in regulation time on Wednesday in Tampere to keep their hopes alive on Gameday 6.
Game Day 5:
Grizzlys Wolfsburg vs Red Bull Salzburg, Tuesday 3 October, 18:00 CET, Eis Arena Wolfsburg.
Tappara Tampere vs HC05 Banská Bystrica, Wednesday 4 October, 18:00 CET/19:00 EET, Hakametsä Stadium.