KooKoo will have it all to do when they go to Germany for the second leg after they threw away a healthy lead to lose 5-3 at home to Eisbaren Berlin.
Axel Holmstrom broke the deadlock with six minutes to play in the first period, and the home side looked to be in control when Ari Grondahl doubled the lead two minutes into period two.
However, two strikes from Liam Kirk restored parity before the midpoint of the match, before Adam Smith completed the turnaround for the Eisbaren with eight minutes of the second period to play, as Gabriel Fontaine assisted all three goals for the visitors.
Jean Luc Foudy missed the chance to put Berlin two clear in the first minute of the third when he failed to convert a penalty, but five minutes later Yannick Veilleux found the net to make it 4-2. Five minutes from time, Robert Rooba pulled one back for KooKoo, but the Liiga strugglers were unable to complete the fight back, after Markus Vikingstad struck in the final four minutes to seal the win.
Tappara also have work to do but gave themselves hope for the second leg at home by reducing their deficit in the third period, though they still fell to a 4-2 loss at Adler Mannheim. Tom Kuhnhackl put the home side ahead in the sixth minute, before Zach Solow and Lukas Kaelble increased the lead in the second period.
But Tappara hit a purple patch in the fifth minute of period three, as Dylan Fabre scored on a powerplay before Jesper Mattila cut the gap to one just 27 seconds of play later. However, instead of find an equaliser, Tappara saw much of their hard work undone when Kristian Reichel added a fourth for Mannheim with eight minutes to go.