Czech Extraliga regular season winners Mountfield HK qualified for the 2022/23 Champions Hockey League Playoffs in spectacular fashion, beating rivals Eisbären Berlin 7-3 away.
The Czechs entered the final period 3-2 down but a five-goal frenzy in the final frame ultimately resulted in their big win on the road.
"We played for the full 60 minutes," started team captain Radek Smoleňák, who scored his side's second goal of the game, "even when we were struggling to find the net in the first period we believed we could beat Berlin."
The game got off to a cautious start with both teams testing each other out for most of the first period, but Berlin's Zach Boychuk broke the deadlock 19 minutes into the game.
Period two saw the hosts double their lead one and a half minutes in before Jan Veselý scored a beautifully placed one-timer after some jaw-dropping setup play that could be traced all the way from Mountfield's own third to cut the deficit in half.
After Berlin's 33:26 goal, Smoleňák would go on to come to his side's rescue after yet another string of quick and precise passes across the ice that caught the Germans totally unprepared.
And the third period? That was Mountfield's from start to finish.
In the final period we played amazing!Mountfield HK's Radek Smoleňák
Smoleňák found himself alone in front of Berlin's Juho Markkanen on more than one occasion in the early minutes of the period, as Mountfield's relentless offensive pushes would finally pay dividends when Jérémie Blain fired in a loose puck at 46:23 after some commotion in front of the Berlin net to tie the game 3-3.
After scoring the equaliser, Blain would go on to score the go-ahead goal two minutes later, before Kevin Klíma and Lukáš Cingel added goals #8 and #9 of the game.
The tenth, Mountfield's seventh, would come from 5-on-3 play as the remainder of the game saw tempers flare and penalty minutes in large on both sides.
What does it mean for Smoleňák and Mountfield to qualify for the Playoffs after such a hard-fought comeback victory?
"It was great," he said with a smile, "it's been challenging this season, our group has been really tough! But we played well tonight and we will carry on in the Playoffs."
Nearly 500 fans travelled with the players and team staff on a specially arranged charter train from Hradec Králové to Germany's capital, Berlin. They filled the German arena and proudly supported their team for the entirety of the game - did having such amazing support help Mountfield in the game?
"We have the best fans. We really enjoyed it!" concluded Smoleňák.