Game report
In the third meeting between the two teams this season, the Juniors had to accept a short-handed situation early on. Thanks to a compact shorthanded game, they initially survived this situation unscathed. As soon as they were back to full strength, Salzburg started to make their first attacking moves, but were slowed down again by another penalty. Henrik Hochfilzer scored the opening goal for the Adler in the 6th minute. Just one minute later (7th), the home side increased the lead to 2:0 through Jakob Lippitsch. The Juniors then had several powerplay opportunities, but were unable to convert them into goals. From then on, the game turned into an open exchange of blows with chances on both sides.
In the second period, the Juniors had another chance in overtime, but Kitzbühel defended skillfully. Shortly after the penalty expired, Niklas Ketonen increased the score to 3:0 for the hosts in the 23rd minute. The Juniors showed fighting spirit and had their first dominant phase of the game. They tried to score the final goal with shots from all angles, but the strong Kitzbühel defense around former Red Bull Hockey Juniors goalkeeper Luca Egger did not allow anything. Both teams fought for every centimeter of ice, but no further goals were scored in this period.
The final period began on an even keel, with both teams setting the offensive tone. While the Eagles had the better shots, the Juniors often shifted play to the outside in the attacking third. Further penalties for the Juniors gave the Eagles the 4:0 through Matic Podlipnik (49th) and the 5:0 through Paolo Wieltschnig (52nd). The home side now took complete control: Jayson Ren increased the score to 6:0 (55th), Wieltschnig scored again (58th) to make it 7:0, and Christopher Schutz put the finishing touches to 8:0 in the 60th minute.