GKS Katowice are all that stand between Nottingham Panthers and a shot a second IIHF Continental Cup title.

The Polish side defeated Latvia’s HK Mogo in a shootout on Thursday night, setting up a decisive clash with the Panthers on Friday. While Nottingham enter the game a point ahead in the standings, IIHF regulations place head-to-head results as the first tiebreaker. As a result, the Panthers must avoid defeat if they are to progress to Saturday’s final.

Any win for Nottingham – in regulation, overtime or a shootout – will send them through to the gold medal game. A regulation loss would eliminate the Panthers, while an overtime or shootout defeat would leave the teams level on points but with Katowice advancing due to their head-to-head victory.

In the other group, Herning Blue Fox were beaten by Torpedo of Kazakhstan. That result means Torpedo require just a single point against Ducs d’Angers to secure their place in the championship game. A regulation win for Angers would create a three-way tie, with goal difference, and potentially goals scored if needed, used to determine the group winner.

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