Czech side Dynamo Pardubice secured their place in the 2023/24 Champions Hockey League Quarter-Finals with a hard-fought 2-2 game against Finnish challengers Ilves Tampere.
The 2022/23 Czech Extraliga regular season winners entered the game with a two-goal lead from the First Game of their series and that came in handy, though superb goaltending and discipline played a crucial role in yesterday's all-or-nothing game.
"Our play was on point and our goalie was really good," started Pardubice's Tomáš Hyka, "overall, it was a really good game from us!"
"We're really glad to be going through"Tomáš Hyka, Dynamo Pardubice
The 30-year-old ex-NHLer assisted Martin Kaut's goal in the game and with seven points (1G+6A) in seven CHL games, he's been a key player on Pardubice's pan-European campaign.
"We played really well in the first game scoring the three goals," he noted when asked about the deciding factor of the series, "but tonight our game started a little slow."
Ilves scored the first goal of the game in the first period and looked close to equalising the aggregate score but a second-period rejuvenation from Pardubice meant they retook the reigns.
"We came out strong in the second period with the goal and then we just played really tight defensively."
Late in the second period, Ilves tested Pardubice's five-on-three PK which they withstood. How?
"Limiting their chances was really important," highlighted Hyka, who also mentioned that his side is just really glad to be moving onto the Quarter-Finals.