Game report
The Juniors started the first period strongly and created some good chances early on. In the 9th minute, Maxsim Eliseev rewarded their efforts with the opening goal to make it 1-0. After that, the home side increasingly took control, while Karlovy Vary found their way back into the game towards the end of the period – but there were no more goals.
The second period belonged entirely to the home team: In the 26th minute, Adrian Gesson increased the lead to 2-0 after an assist from Florian Lanzinger. Just three minutes later, Lanzinger himself got on the score sheet and made it 3-0 (29th minute). The Czechs tried to respond, but Juniors goalie Luca Haitzmann made several strong saves and kept a clean sheet.
In the final period, the visitors managed to pull one back to make it 3-1 through David Poizl in the 42nd minute. The Juniors responded with a higher tempo and defended their lead confidently in an increasingly physical game, even in several shorthanded situations.
With a successful start under their belts, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors will travel to Zug on Tuesday for the renowned EVZ Prospects Challenge. There they will face the host EV Zug as well as strong junior teams such as HC Bílí Tygři Liberec (Czech Republic), Tappara Tampere (Finland), Rögle BK (Sweden), and the ZSC Lions (Switzerland).
