Game Recap
The Red Bulls dominated the early going, with Frankfurt barely able to break out of their own zone. However, the visitors managed to prevent any shots from the slot. The exception was a chance by Elis Hede, who found himself open for a shot, but Nico Pertuch in the Lions’ net got his pads down quickly enough (4). After five minutes, Frankfurt was able to break out more often, though Munich continued to create the better chances. Clear-cut scoring opportunities remained few and far between, however—even during a two-man advantage (10.). On the other end, Antoine Bibeau was left with little to do for a long time; in the final minutes of the period, the goaltender denied Anthony Romano a power-play goal (17). Shortly afterward, the crossbar prevented Munich from falling behind. Thus, the game remained scoreless heading into the first intermission.
In the second period, an offensive spectacle quickly unfolded with chances coming every minute. The Red Bulls capitalized on their very first opportunity: After a faceoff, Hirose moved in front of the net and, with a deft backhand, lifted the puck just under the crossbar (22nd minute). Munich kept up the pressure, but the visitors remained dangerous on their counterattacks—and struck back in the midst of this period of sustained pressure. Timo Kose deflected a shot past Bibeau to tie the game at 1–1 (25th minute). After that, both teams engaged in a evenly matched battle without any clear-cut scoring chances. There was, however, another goal. It was scored by Cameron Brace, who beat Bibeau in the short corner during a Löwen power play (35th minute), giving the visitors a 2–1 lead after two periods.
After the final line change, Yasin Ehliz narrowly missed the equalizer on a breakaway while his team was shorthanded (43rd minute). Shortly thereafter, the visitors were assessed a major penalty, but aside from a shot off the post by Ryan Murphy, they lacked clear-cut chances (48th minute). Shortly after the penalty expired, another shot by Murphy hit the frame—this time the crossbar (50th minute). Frankfurt didn’t allow much else. The visitors defended compactly and launched counterattacks. Eric Uba hit the post in the 56th minute, missing the chance to seal the victory. In the 59th minute, Romano converted a penalty to make it 3–1. A few seconds later, Brace sealed the 4–1 final score with an empty-net goal, putting the game out of reach.
