Wednesday, 12. August 2026 |
EC Red Bull Salzburg | First Preseason Game
After a scoreless first period, Maximilian Wurzer gave the Red Bulls the lead in the second period, before Renārs Krastenbergs turned the game around with a two-goal performance. In the final period, Budějovice pulled ahead with three more goals from Róbert Lantoši on the power play, Jakub Pour, and Ondrej Vala.
Game Summary
The Red Bulls—without Nick Poisson, Luca Kogler, Nikita Bloch, Mathias Böhm, Thomas Raffl, Nash Nienhuis, and Jacob Schnabl—had to survive a four-minute penalty kill early on. The penalty kill unit, led by goaltender David Kickert, held firm, and shortly afterward, the Salzburg team tested Milan Kloucek for the first time during their first power play. Toward the middle of the period, the Red Bulls found their rhythm and increased the pressure at times, but Budějovice held its ground. In the closing minutes, Kickert was called into action several times following quick passing plays and shots from the slot (16th minute); the first period ended scoreless.
After the break, Benjamin Nissner and Peter Schneider each had a chance to take the lead (21st minute), before Maximilian Wurzer converted a pass from Oliver Galipeau to make it 0–1 (25th minute). Budějovice responded with a quick transition play; Renārs Krastenbergs broke through on the wing following a turnover and beat Kickert in a one-on-one to tie the game at 1–1 (29th minute). The home team then turned up the pressure, and it was Krastenbergs again who made it 2–1 on a quick counterattack (34th minute). After that, the game became increasingly physical, but Salzburg stayed in the game until the second intermission.
Dennis Robertsson opened the final period with a good scoring chance (41st minute), but it was the home team that scored the next goals. Róbert Lantoši capitalized on a power play to make it 3–1 (43rd minute), and just 53 seconds later, Jakub Pour, assisted by Matyas Cicha, extended the lead to 4–1 (44th minute). The Red Bulls had to weather additional penalty kills and were able to rely on David Kickert on several occasions before Ondrej Vala scored from the blue line off a pass from Jakub Pour to make it 5–1 (55th). Shortly thereafter, Kickert stopped a breakaway by Marek Zachar (56th), and the team also kept a clean sheet during another penalty kill in the final two minutes of the game.
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Statement by Head Coach Alan Letang
“There were a lot of positives in our first game. We knew we’d still be a little rusty after the summer, but we quickly found our rhythm and were fully in the game, especially in the first two periods. We created good scoring chances, blocked a lot of shots, and our penalty kill worked very well. Much of what we’ve been working on in practice was already evident. Of course, there are still details we need to work on, especially in transition play and puck handling. But that’s exactly what these preseason games are for. Now we want to continue developing our game step by step and improve from game to game.”
Pre-season Game | České Budějovice, Czech Republic
HC Motor České Budějovice - EC Red Bull Salzburg 5:1 (0:0, 2:1, 3:0)
Goals:
0:1 | 24:15 | Maximilian Wurzer
1:1 | 28:04 | Renārs Krastenbergs
2:1 | 33:01 | Renārs Krastenbergs
3:1 | 42:30 | Róbert Lantoši | PP
4:1 | 43:23 | Jakub Pour
5:1 | 54:39 | Ondrej Vala
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