The IIHF’s Continental Cup 2nd round kicked off on 13th October, with groups in Jelgava, Latvia and Belgrade, Serbia. While the Slovenian representatives, HK Celje, had to face off against a team many tout as the weakest in the group, the Belgian Liege Bulldogs, Zemgale had to play a game that possibly decides the group’s fate on day 1 against the Romanian Corona Brasov.
Celje escapes the Bulldogs
What some may have expected to be a trivial game for the Slovenian side ended up being much tighter for the first 40 minutes, as the Liege Bulldogs came out ready to prove that they belong here.
Belgian forward Henry Bryan was the first to stun HK Celje and show that the underdogs stood a chance in this game, making it 1-0 in the 15th minute, skating around both Celje’s defense and the goalie. The lead wouldn’t last for long though, as Luka Kalan would score 2 minutes later, before Jure Sotlar would score to make it 2-1 Celje before the end of the first.
The second period would prove to be incredibly back and forth, with teams exchanging goals constantly. Jordan Paulus tied the game 2-2, before the Latvian forward Mikus Mintautiskis put Celje in the lead again a minute later, 3-2. Sean Montgomery would tie the game once again in the 37th minute, but Jure Sotlar’s second goal of the game to make it 4-3 with 12 seconds left in the period would end up being the decider in this game.
The third period was all Celje, with Jure Sotlar completing his hat-trick in the 5th minute of the period, 5-3. Luka Kalan ( 6-3; 47:46 ), Mikus Mintautiskis ( 7-3; 51:48 ), Sodja Zalokar ( 8-3; 53:30 ) and Bruno Kuret ( 9-3 ; 55:17 ) would each add one goal to the tally afterwards, as Celje would coast to a 9-3 victory in their tournament-opening game.
FINAL SCORE:
HK Celje 9
Liege Bulldogs 3
Zemgale holds off the physical Corona Brasov
The North American physicality on display by Brasov wasn’t enough, though it did cause many headaches – both physical and metaphorical – for Zemgale’s players and coaching staff.
Zemgale got off to the best start they could early on, as their Ukrainian forward Bohdan Panasenko received a great pass from Eimantas Noreika on a 2-on-1 rush, putting the puck into a half empty net, 1-0 just 59 seconds in. The game would be filled with quite a few errors by both teams, but a 2 minute interference penalty by Brasov’s Krizstian Szabo would give Zemgale a great chance to extend the lead. Panasenko would show off his speed on the rush, breaking past Brasov’s defense and shooting the puck in-between Zoltan Toke’s legs, 2-0!
The second period would be filled with 4 penalties by Brasov, a direct result of their physical style of play. Panasenko would seal his hat-trick on the powerplay in the 33rd minute, hitting the top shelf off of a blast from inside the faceoff circle, 3-0. The Romanian representatives would have a great chance to get one goal back at the end of the period robbed from them by Zemgale’s starting goalie, Rihards Cimermanis.
Brasov’s Richard Rokaly shook Zemgale’s defense early on in the third period however, capitalizing on the powerplay after Panasenko’s 2 minute boarding penalty to cut down Zemgale’s lead to just 2 goals now! The third period was all Cimermanis-show though, as Zemgale’s goalie stood strong and made quite a few spectacular saves to retain Zemgale’s lead, even on the powerplay!
Cimermanis’ efforts would not be in vain, as the score would stand until the final whistle – Zemgale took a 3-1 win against their direct competitors, Corona Brasov.
FINAL SCORE
Zemgale 3
Corona Brasov 1
Group Standings
| Rank | Name | GP | W | OTW | GF:GA | Points |
| 1 | Celje | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9:3 | 3 |
| 2 | Zemgale | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:1 | 3 |
| 3 | Corona Brasov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:3 | 0 |
| 4 | Liege Bulldogs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:9 | 0 |
The next 2 games in the group will be on 14th October
HK Celje – Corona Brasov @ 15:30
Liege Bulldogs – HK Zemgale/LBTU @ 19:30
Latvian Puck Paradise 
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