Game Summary
Jaka Sturm capitalized on the home team’s very first opportunity and gave Jesenice a 0-1 lead (2nd minute). The Red Bull Hockey Juniors remained unfazed by the early goal and sought to mount their own offensive push. Jesenice then camped out in the Salzburg zone for an extended period and tested Juniors goaltender Luca Haitzmann several times, but the Red Bulls defended tightly. In the closing minutes, the Juniors earned their first power play but were unable to break through the Slovenes’ solid defense. The teams headed into the first intermission with the Juniors trailing by a narrow margin.
The second period began with an open back-and-forth exchange of shots before the Juniors weathered their first penalty kill unscathed. Back at full strength, the Salzburg team increased the pressure and were rewarded: Felix Baumann converted a pass from Antons Macijevskis to tie the game at 1–1 (26th minute). Shortly afterward, the Red Bulls earned their second power play but couldn’t find a way past Jesenice goaltender Jon Dukaric. At the other end, Val Marn was denied by Haitzmann on a breakaway (32nd minute), before Niklas Korhonen narrowly missed taking the lead after a cross-ice pass from Lucas Hartl (34th minute). The Juniors were getting more and more into the game, but shortly before the second intermission, Jesenice struck again: Robert Sabolic scored off assists from Erik Svetina and Aleksandar Magovac to make it 1–2 (39th minute).
In the final period, both teams picked up the pace. Zan Spari Leben had already beaten Haitzmann but couldn’t put the puck in the net (43rd minute). Shortly afterward, the Juniors found themselves shorthanded but managed to capitalize on the situation themselves: On a quick counterattack, Noel Lußnig tied the game at 2–2 (45th minute). The Red Bulls pressed immediately afterward and completely turned the game around just under three minutes later. Edvins Berzins scored off assists from Benedikt Hengelmüller and Nico Koschek to make it 3–2 (48th minute). In an increasingly physical final stretch, Jesenice threw everything forward once more and pulled their goalie for an extra skater in the final minutes of the game. The Juniors defended resolutely before Florian Lanzinger scored into the empty net three seconds before the final buzzer (60th minute) to seal the 4–2 victory.
