Adler Mannheim vs Tappara Tampere is the closest match-up of the Round of 16 as it sees two teams that finished with the same number of points (11 each) and neck-and-neck in the Regular Season Standings (Mannheim 8th, Tappara 9th) face each other. 

Starting with the Finns, it's been a bit of a hit-and-miss season so far, with the reigning Liiga champions struggling both at home and on the road. They picked up wins over Bílí Tygři Liberec, the Växjö Lakers and GKS Tychy on Game Day 6, played two very close games against Kölner Haie and Storhamar Hamar - losing both in OT - but were completely blanked 4-0 by Rögle Ängelholm.

Key points to take away from their play so far is that their special units (28% PP and nearly 94% PK) have been very strong and are a key asset to the way they operate - heck, Tappara have held off all but one powerplay against them! They've been strong early into games, but have dropped results in the final period one two many times and it's been a 0/2 situation in the extra frames - concentration and the strength to hold on down to the final buzzer need to be improved on!

Though Adler Mannheim lack Tappara's sparkling PP and PK numbers (20% PP and 75% PK so far for die Adler), the DEL side ready to skate our for their fifth-straight appearance in the Round of 16 best the Finns with a CHL-leading face-off win percentage of nearly 64%! 

Mannheim took three back-to-back wins between Game Days 3 and 5 - beating a trio of reigning national champions in the form of Fribourg-Gottéron, GKS Tychy and the Bordeaux Boxers - and have generally impressed with the depth of their squad. Most of their players have scored at least one point, with Team of the Regular Season D-man Nicolas Mattinen leading the lot with 5G and 3A, while their entire blue line has been a valuable source of offensive power, being generally more productive and involved than Tappara's.