Course of the game
Without the convalescents Florian Baltram, Niki Kraus and Chay Genoway (injured), the Red Bulls took to the ice in Vienna. And the reigning champions started just as they had imagined. Troy Bourke intercepted a cross-ice pass in the Vienna defense early on and gave Vienna goalkeeper Sebastian Wraneschitz no chance (5th). It was the ninth goal of the season for Salzburg's top scorer. The Red Bulls were compact and hardly allowed any shots on goal, but were all the more dangerous up front. Ali Wukovits netted for a 2:0 lead (12'), neatly assisted by Ryan Murphy after excellent preparatory work. The home side had their best attacking spells in two overtime games, in which they were a real threat with their shots, but were unable to surprise Salzburg goalie Atte Tolvanen. The Red Bulls were better in the 5 vs. 5 and led 2:0 after 20 minutes.
After the break, the Vienna Capitals initially pressed and forced the Red Bulls to work hard defensively. However, Salzburg soon opened the game up again and Thomas Raffl had a good chance from the left face-off circle (25'). After that, the Red Bulls dominated almost the entire third and could hardly be separated from the glass. However, two chances were enough for the home side to equalize the game almost out of nowhere within a few seconds. Zane Franklin scored with a rebound (37') and 12 seconds later Jeremy Gregoire equalized from half-distance (38'). However, the Red Bulls regained the lead before the break. Peter Hochkofler had the overview in a scrum in front of goal after a Ryan Murphy shot and netted to give the Red Bulls a 3:2 lead after 40 minutes.
At the start of the final period, the Red Bulls pulled away several times and put the Vienna goalkeeper and defense under pressure. Vienna's Niki Hartl then suddenly had a top chance from the slot (43'), but Atte Tolvanen made the save. But then the Red Bulls scored on their first powerplay, Peter Schneider's shot from the face-off circle was unstoppable (45'). Vienna did not let up, Zane Franklin scored again from a rebound to make it 3:4 (48'). Suddenly everything was open again, the Caps were now on an equal footing. But Lucas Thaler completed his solo run while short-handed with a beautiful hook to restore the two-goal lead. Vienna continued to make it exciting in the final phase, but the Red Bulls could no longer be outwitted and celebrated a fully deserved away win against the Vienna Capitals.