Game Summary
Bremerhaven got off to a strong start, and Coach Oliver David’s team—with David unable to be on the sidelines due to illness—had to focus on defense in the opening minutes. However, Munich created the first clear scoring chance through Rieder, who was denied by Penguins goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis in the 5th minute. The Latvian goalie also thwarted Rieder’s second prime opportunity eight minutes later. The hosts created their most dangerous chances during two power plays. However, they were unable to get past visiting goalie Mathias Niederberger, and so the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes as the teams headed into the first intermission.
In the second period, Munich applied immediate pressure and was rewarded with back-to-back goals: In the 22nd minute, McKenna scored to make it 1-0, and just 19 seconds later, Thaler extended the lead to 2-0. The first goal was also the Red Bulls’ first power-play goal of the season and earned assist man Yasin Ehliz his 600th DEL point. Goal number two marked the DEL debut for the new signing from Salzburg. After taking the lead, Munich created further chances, while Niederberger made several key saves whenever their own goal was threatened. In the 37th minute, Hager capitalized on the team’s second power play to make it 3–0 heading into the second intermission.
After starting the final period shorthanded, the Red Bulls quickly made sure Gudlevskis had plenty of work to do. The next goal, however, went to the Penguins when Max Görtz cut the lead to 1–3 (50th minute). Bremerhaven held out hope and fought hard, but six minutes later, Rieder scored to make the final score 4–1.
