TYCHY – The 2015/2016 IIHF Continental Cup continued over the weekend with Tychy, Poland hosting Group C’s round robin tournament. Although they needed a third period comeback on the final day to win it all, the host team GKS Tychy dominated the ice, scoring an incredible 35 goals in just three games to move on.
Despite the glut of scoring, a single goal from Tychy forward Radoslaw Galant gave the team the key 3-2 win over tournament runners-up the Coventry Blaze from the British Elite Ice Hockey League.
Playing in the deciding game on Sunday, the Blaze watched an early 2-0 lead in the third period evaporate as Tychy’s offence woke up. First it was defenceman Mateusz Bryk scoring his first goal of the tournament, making is a key one as he cut the lead to 2-1 just over five minutes into the third period.
Tychy managed to kill off two consecutive penalties, and with the momentum on their side tied the game with ten minutes to go thanks to a score from Jakub Witecki.
The goal set up Galant’s late-game heroics, as the Polish international capped off the comeback with the go-ahead goal with 5:36 remaining on the clock. Tychy held off Coventry the rest of the way to capture top spot in Group C and move on to the third round of the Continental Cup.
Prior to the game against Coventry, Tychy had had an easy ride. The Polish club opened its Continental Cup campaign with a 26-0 drubbing of Partizan Belgrade. The Serbian club had finished third in Group A, but accepted an invitation to compete after Bulgarian champion CSKA Sofia, which won the first round of the 2015/2016 IIHF Continental Cup but had to renounce its participation in the second round due to financial problems.
Belgrade was heavily outmatched by Tychy, which put up an 8-0 lead in the opening period, then scoring five more in the second and finally adding 13 more goals for good measure in the third period. The score is the highest single game goal tally for a team in Continental Cup history, eclipsing the previous mark of 16 goals scored by White Caps Turnhout of Belgium against the Turkish club Baskent Yildizlari Ankara back in 2011.
The absence of the Bulgarians certainly gave Tychy a smoother path to the third round and the Poles took advantage, following up their big win over Partizan with an 8-3 victory over Romanian club Dunares Galati.
Tychy’s biggest challenge came on the final day of competition in their game against the U.K. club Coventry Blaze. Both teams came into the game tied in points with the winner advancing to the next round.
Following an early goal by Coventry forward Jordan Pietrus, the game devolved through the first and second period as a total of 16 penalties were called, including five game misconducts. Coventry looked to have the game in control, following the early third period goal defenceman Michael Quesnele coupled with what had been up to then a stellar goaltending performance by Brian Stewart, who played two shutout periods stopping 36 shots.
But the reply from Witecki opened the floodgates for GKS Tychy, which scored three unanswered goals. Tychy will move on to the third round that will be played on 20-22 November in Rouen, France.
Click here for tournament scores and statisticsADAM STEISS
