Bern made it two wins in two days when the Swiss team ended Swedish champions HV 71s’ run of wins in the European Trophy on Thursday night. For Bern it was the second straight against Swedish opposition. After defeating Malmö Redhawks 5-1 on Wednesday, Bern inflicted the same defeat, 5-1, on HV 71.

Once again the Bern powerplay won the game for the club with four of the five goals coming with a one- or two-men advantage on the ice. Phillip Furrer opened the scoring midway through the first period and in the second, Travis Roche on a power-play and Andreas Hänni on a double powerplay added two more goal for Bern.

HV-defenceman Jesper Williamsson pulled one back for his side playing four on four, but Travis Roche first assisted Ryan Gardner when scoring 4-1 on a powerplay and then assisted Brett McLean when he added a fifth in an empty net. That puts McLean top of the scoringtable with three goals and five assists in the first five games.

The win pushed Bern up into third place in the Central Division in the hunt for a place in the Red Bull Salute. The team will have a rest day on Friday before moving from Langenthal to Wichtrach where they will face Frölunda Indians in a game that can put them in a very healthy position ahead of the final two games in the division.

The fifth round of matches in the Central division will be completed on Friday evening when Red Bull Salzburg take on Malmö Redhawks at home and Frölunda Indians travel til Zürich to play ZSC Lions in what is a must-win-game for both teams. In the all-Finnish clash, divisional leaders Oulun Kärpät are looking to maaintain their record as the only yet undefeated team in the European Trophy when they entertain Tappara at home.

In the Capital Division Adler Mannheim is hoping for another big crowd (10 157 on Wednesday) and a win when Linköping come to visit. Coach Harold Kreis was very pleased with the way his team performed in the 3-0-win against Djurgården on Wednesday and expect pretty much the same kind of game against Linköping. “We know how the Swedish teams play, keeping a lot of posession in their own third of the ice and when deciding to attack, they do it with a lot of pace. But we will be prepared for them and try to check them hard all over the ice” says Kreis.

Djurgården has travelled from Mannheim to Praha to take on Sparta while Eisbären Berlin will play Färjestad at home in Berlin and Norwegian participants Vålerenga travel to Finland to take on Jokerit. "The FInnish teams have opened the campaign in a solid way so we are prepared for a tough game" says Vålerenga goalie Patrick DesRocher. "But we are very much looking forard to the games and it's a good experience to cross the borders and play teams from different leageus, both for the younger and us older guys."


European Trophy (2010-08-20 01:52:08)