Game summary
It was an intense battle from the start, with the only thing missing initially being scoring chances. That changed after a penalty against the visitors (4th minute): Munich pushed for the lead with the man advantage but couldn't find a way past Janne Juvonen. The Haie goalie defused a shot from Taro Hirose (5th minute), among others. The Red Bulls remained the more active team, but Cologne defended consistently and allowed few chances. At the other end, Antoine Bibeau had a quiet period until Cologne applied pressure in their first power play shortly before the break. However, the Munich goalie was unbeatable. The teams went into the break with the score at 0-0.
It was another high-class duel after the break. Both teams played quickly up front, but the goalies continued to show their class. Despite good chances on both sides, it looked like it would be another scoreless period – until Cologne's Dominik Bokk scored the 0-1 in the 38th minute. However, the four-time German champions had the perfect response before the end of the period: Kastner deflected a shot from Ryan Murphy to tie the game at 1-1 (39th minute).
The defensive lines continued to defend attentively in the final period and allowed few chances. The solo efforts by Cologne's Kevin Niedenz (45th minute) and Munich's Yasin Ehliz (55th minute) were the absolute exception. Because the goalies shone in these situations and remained unbeatable afterwards, the score remained 1-1 after 60 minutes.
In overtime, both teams waited for their chance before Ferguson hammered the puck into the corner with a slap shot in the 64th minute to make it 2-1 and secure the extra point for his team.
