The starting position
Just a year ago, the Red Bulls were beaten 5-1 at home by the Lahti Pelicans in the last game of the CHL Regular Season with a somewhat decimated team and thus missed out on the playoffs. This time the signs are different. The Red Bulls have clearly qualified for the playoffs with four wins from six games, beating the ZSC Lions and the Växjö Lakers, among others.
The Lahti Pelicans have also played their way into the postseason with four wins, including a 5:4 victory on penalties against last year's CHL champions Genève-Servette and a CHL record-breaking 10:1 win over the Rouen Dragons. So the Finns know where the goal is, but have so far failed to impress in the Finnish top league Liiga. After 18 rounds, they are in 12th place in the table (out of 16 teams) with 8 wins and 10 defeats.
The opponent
The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish club based in Lahti, southern Finland, that plays in the Finnish top league Liiga. After finishing third in the 2018/19 Liiga regular season under head coach Ville Niemine, the club qualified for the Champions Hockey League for the first time. On his debut in the 2019/20 season, the Finns finished the season in the group stage with a 2-4 record and returned in the 2023/24 season, where they survived the regular season but were eliminated in the round of 16 against Czech club Vítkovice Ridera. Before that, they also beat the Red Bulls 5:1 in Salzburg in the last game of the regular season.