Game Summary
The Red Bulls started the game full of energy and dominated the opening minutes. They moved the puck around, and the first good shots were stopped by the visiting goalie, Bence Balizs. Then, Benjamin Nissner embarked on a daring solo effort through the entire Hungarian defense and scored from a sharp angle while falling (7th minute). Shortly after, Salzburg's goalie, David Kickert, made a crucial save on a shorthanded shot from Gordon Green right in front of him (8th minute). Benjamin Nissner had another excellent opportunity, but with the net half-empty on the power play, he hit the crossbar (11th minute). The Red Bulls gave the visitors little room to breathe and kept them pinned in their own defensive zone. Only towards the end did the Hungarians test David Kickert again with some dangerous shots, and they promptly tied the game on the power play with four seconds left in the first period. Tyler Coulter had a brief window of time in the slot and fired the puck into the top corner (20th minute) to make it 1-1.
Salzburg came out strong after the break and quickly regained the lead. Connor Corcoran fired a one-timer from the left face-off circle, beating the stunned visiting goalie with a low shot through his closed legs (24th minute). The Hungarians then took control of the game, regularly penetrating the offensive zone and becoming a real nuisance. However, the Red Bulls then put the game beyond doubt with two more goals. Peter Schneider poked the puck across the line on a rebound shortly after a power play (37th minute), and Mario Huber finished off a cross-ice pass from Michael Raffl from a sharp angle to make it 4-1 at the 40-minute mark (39th minute).
And then there was some tic-tac-toe hockey: the puck came from Thomas Raffl to Connor Corcoran before reaching Peter Schneider, who scored his second goal of the game with a one-timer early in the third period (42nd minute). The visitors only posed a real scoring threat once more, during a power play (starting in the 51st minute). Otherwise, Salzburg continued to dominate the game, even with their clear lead, and thrilled the crowd with their combination hockey until the final whistle. In the end, the Red Bulls, and especially Peter Hochkofler, celebrating his first competitive game of the season (!), were delighted with their seventh consecutive victory and a resounding 5-1 home win against FTC-Telekom Budapest.
