Game report
After the first few minutes of feeling things out, the Red Bulls (again with Luca Auer and Ryan Murphy) stepped up the pace and became dangerous for the first time. Lukas Schreier (4th) on the post, Ali Wukovits directly in front of goal on a cross pass (6th) and Peter Schneider on the follow-up shot (7th) set the tone. However, Rasmus Reijola in the Hungarian goal was not shaken, nor was Salzburg goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen, who was called upon to save a number of shots. The Red Bulls continued to press and were now dominant. Peter Hochkofler hit the goalie with a one-timer after a 3-on-1 counter-attack (14'), shortly afterwards Niki Kraus failed to put the ball in the net in a short scramble in front of the goal (16'). The first period went to the Red Bulls with a clear advantage in chances, but ended goalless.
It took exactly 2:02 minutes in the second period for the Red Bulls to finally strike. Ali Wukovits took Troy Bourke's cross-ice pass at full stretch and netted for a long-deserved lead. But the visitors got stronger and forced the Red Bulls to play defense for the most part in the following minutes. From halfway through the third period, the Red Bulls were back in the game and it was up and down. However, the Hungarians were not really compelling and Salzburg created more chances from a strong defense. Atte Tolvanen saved good shots from the slot by Rasmus Kulmala (38') and Chris Brown (39') in the final phase and secured the Red Bulls the 1:0 lead after the second period, in which the visitors were clearly more present.
And the Red Bulls struck again after the break. Ryan Murphy went on the run and beat the visitors' goalkeeper with a lob under the crossbar (43'). This time, however, the Hungarians went one better and a minute later Csanad Erdely deflected a shot from distance into the net (44'). The game became more intense and the visitors were dangerous in the Salzburg goal area time and time again. From the 50th minute onwards, the Red Bulls created more opportunities again, such as the 2-on-1 counter-attack with Troy Bourke and Ali Wukovits (52'). Dennis Robertson finally scored from an acute angle (52') to give the Red Bulls a 3:1 lead and provide security. Nevertheless, the game remained exciting right to the end, partly because the visitors tried everything with six outfield players in the last two minutes. But the Salzburg defense, with a strong Atte Tolvanen, could no longer be broken down and the Red Bulls were delighted with a 3:1 win against the strong Hungarians.