The Game
The Red Bulls started aggressively and were clearly the dominant team in the first period in terms of shots on goal. They operated from a compact defense and regularly combined in front of Evan Cowley's goal, who had to reach behind him for the first time in the 14th minute. Travis St. Denis reacted quickly after a long-range shot from Dennis Robertson, which was deflected by Michael Raffl. The Capitals had their moments, with two or three good shots and subsequent scrambling in front of Atte Tolvanen's goal, who kept his composure. On a 2-on-1 counterattack shortly before halftime, Salzburg had a great chance but took a deserved 1-0 lead into the locker room.
The Red Bulls continued in this vein, moving the puck around nicely and creating several dangerous shots on goal right at the start of the second period. In the 26th minute, things got a bit dicey in front of Salzburg's goal for the first time, which opened up the game again. After the Red Bulls' initial power play (starting in the 27th minute), the Caps also had the numerical advantage. Lucas Thaler then won the puck while shorthanded and, after a solo effort and a beautiful hook, buried it in the net to take a 2-0 lead (30th minute). This gave the Red Bulls additional confidence. They remained the better team and had little trouble fending off the home team's attacks, although they were closer to the Red Bulls in the second period. The Red Bulls were up 2-0 after 40 minutes.
Benjamin Lanzinger, the older brother of Salzburg's Florian Lanzinger, who faced off in a family duel today, tried a shot into the near post shortly after the restart, but couldn't catch Atte Tolvanen off guard. The home team had their best moment to date on a subsequent power play, but it wasn't until Sam Antonitsch beat Atte Tolvanen after a brief solo effort to score to make it 1-2 (47th minute). Peter Schneider then had a chance with a backhand shot in front of Evan Cowley (51st minute). Shortly afterward, the Caps again pressed on with another highly dangerous power play. In the intense final phase, however, the Red Bulls refused to give up, and Michael Raffl put the finishing touches on a deserved Salzburg victory in Vienna with a goal into an empty net, his first goal for the Red Bulls.
