Game Summary
The Red Bulls got off to a slow start in Vienna with an early goal against them. Before the first minute had even passed, Vienna's Carter Souch scored on the power play, lobbed the puck right in front of Atte Tolvanen (1st minute). After that, the Red Bulls dominated the game and created numerous scoring opportunities. Troy Bourke, for example, couldn't finish his short solo effort (8th minute). Many other good shots were stopped by Vienna's goaltender, Evan Cowley, who also made several saves in close-quarters situations. It wasn't until the final minutes that Atte Tolvanen was called into action again, preventing a larger deficit on a breakaway by Simon Bourque (20th minute). Thus, the score remained a somewhat flattering 1-0 for the Capitals after the first period.
In the second period, Thomas Raffl had Salzburg's first big chance on the power play, hitting the post with a pass (23rd minute). Shortly afterward, Atte Tolvanen made a superb save on a quick counterattack by the visitors (24th minute). The Red Bulls remained the more offensive team, but were now being disrupted much more during their build-up play and rarely managed to get a shot off. The home team also initially struggled to create many dangerous scoring chances despite more end-to-end action, but once again on the power play, Christof Kromp fired a shot from the slot into the top corner to make it 2-0 (34th minute). This time, the response was immediate: again on the power play, Michael Raffl converted a perfect pass from Travis St. Denis right in front of the net to reduce the deficit to 2-1 (38th minute). That's how the first period ended.
Salzburg significantly increased the tempo in the final period and quickly tied the game. Brandon Coe gave the Vienna goalie no chance on a 2-on-1 break with Travis St. Denis (44th minute). This prompted the Capitals to push forward more, and the game became a heated back-and-forth affair with opportunities for both sides. Troy Bourke then skated past a Vienna defenseman and fired an unstoppable shot from the right face-off circle into the net (56th minute). Salzburg took the lead for the first time in this game – and never relinquished it. However, with Vienna playing with six skaters, the atmosphere in front of Salzburg's net was electric until Mario Huber sealed the victory with an empty-net goal (60th minute), securing a hard-fought but well-deserved 3 points for the Red Bulls in Vienna.
