Red Bull Salzburg face Lahti in the CHL for a place in the quarter-finals

EC Red Bull Salzburg's greatest success in the Champions Hockey League to date was reaching the semi-finals in the 2018/19 season. They narrowly missed out on a place in the final against their local rivals on that occasion. In 2024, they could now achieve what would, for the time being, be their second-greatest success in European elite competition.

Salzburg celebrated a thoroughly deserved 2:1 win away to the Lahti Pelicans a week ago, securing a slender advantage for the second leg in Salzburg. A win or a draw on Wednesday would see the Red Bulls reach the CHL quarter-finals for the second time in the club's history. Should Salzburg trail by a goal after 60 minutes, the winner will be determined in sudden-death overtime of up to ten minutes. If that remains scoreless, a penalty shootout will decide the outcome.

The Red Bulls have shown their best side in the Champions Hockey League so far. Thanks to wins in the group stage, including against the ZSC Lions and Växjö Lakers, the reigning win2day ICE Hockey League champions finished eighth out of 24 teams in the regular season. As a result, they were drawn against ninth-placed club Lahti Pelicans in the round of sixteen.

EC Red Bull Salzburg's form is on the rise. The Red Bulls impressed in their last two win2day ICE Hockey League matches against Vienna and Bolzano. The Lahti Pelicans, currently 12th in the Finnish Liiga table, have also played twice since the CHL match against Salzburg. Last Friday, they lost 2:5 away to HPK Hämeenlinna on 15, but celebrated a 4:1 home win over Kärpät on Saturday, 9.

Should EC Red Bull Salzburg indeed reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday, the last remaining representative of the win2day ICE Hockey League will face the winner of the tie between Färjestad Karlstad and Tappara Tampere. Färjestad won the first leg between the two teams. The second leg will be played on Tuesday evening.

ÖEHV forward Mario Huber knows how a place in the quarter-finals can be achieved: "We are looking forward to the match. We have the opportunity to progress to the next round and we are ready. The Finns will try to find solutions against our forecheck, which already kept them busy in Lahti. Nevertheless, we want to try to play our game and impose our style on them. We are not thinking about the lead – the game starts at 0:0 and that is how we will approach the match."

CHL playoff format

The top 16 teams from the field of 24 participants contest the round of sixteen. 1st plays 16th, 2nd plays 15th, and so on. This subsequently determines the playoff bracket through to the final. Playoff ties are decided over two legs, with aggregate score decisive if the teams are level on points. Only the final is played as a single, decisive match.

Champions Hockey League – round of sixteen second leg

EC Red Bull Salzburg vs. Lahti Pelicans

Wed, 20 November 2024, 20:20 - >> Live on ORF SPORT+ and ORF ON

First leg:

Lahti Pelicans vs. EC Red Bull Salzburg 1:2 (0:0,1:1,0:1)
Tue, 12 November 2024, 17:30
Red Bull Salzburg goalscorers: Mario Huber (26/SH1), Troy Bourke (45)