Game report
The Red Bull Hockey Juniors conceded the first goal in the 2nd minute of the game through Danil Tsarkovskyi. Just one minute later, the visitors took full advantage of a short-handed situation: Jure Povse increased the lead to 2:0 (3rd). This double strike shook the Red Bulls awake. Laurin Sandholzer, who had returned from injury, reduced the deficit to 1:2 in the 4th minute after Nikita Kessler's assist. Despite further chances on both sides, the score remained the same until shortly before the end of the period. In the 19th minute, Celje restored their two-goal lead through Jure Sotlar and took a 3:1 lead into the break.
In the second period, the Juniors had to concede another goal while short-handed: Danil Tsarkovskyi scored in the 22nd minute of the game to make it 4:1 for the visitors. But the young Salzburgers were not discouraged. After surviving another short-handed situation, they had a powerplay chance themselves. Philipp Wimmer took advantage of this and reduced the deficit to 2:4 in the 28th minute. Spurred on by the goal, the Red Bulls increased the pressure and tested Celje's goalkeeper from all angles. In the 33rd minute, Luca Kogler scored in overtime to make it 3:4, and just 20 seconds later (34') Jesse Kauhanen equalized to make it 4:4. However, the joy did not last long: In the 36th minute, Jakob Bernard put the visitors back in front, meaning they went into the second break with a 4:5 lead.
The Slovenians got off to the better start in the final period. In the 48th minute, Ahmet Jakupovic increased the lead to 6:4 for Celje. The Juniors showed morale again and responded just seven seconds later: Constantin Humer scored his first goal in the Alps Hockey League to tie the score again at 5:6 (48'). Danil Tsarkovskyi extended the visitors' lead to 7:5 with his third goal in the 54th minute. Despite their best efforts, Salzburg were unable to close the gap. In the final seconds, the Juniors took goalkeeper Thomas Pfarrmaier off the ice for an extra outfield player, but Mikus Mintautiskis scored into the empty net (60th) to make the final score 8:5.