Troy Bourke scored in the third for Red Bull Salzburg as they take a 2-1 aggregate lead in their Champions Hockey League Round of 16 match-up against the Lahti Pelicans back to Austria. The visitors played an aggressive style of hockey and wound up outshooting their opponents by a hefty margin.
Both sides were able to move the puck effectively in the first period, but neither managed to solve the other’s netminder as the teams entered their respective locker rooms knotted at 0-0. Antti Tyrväinen had the best chance of the period when he found himself 1-on-1 with Atte Tolvanen, but the Finnish backstop denied the chance with a blocker save.
Then in the second, a costly turnover on the powerplay helped Salzburg take a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded tally courtesy of Mario Huber. An errant pass along the boards led to Andrew Rowe gaining possession below the red line, Rowe found Huber in front of the net as the forward directed the puck towards the goal. Jasper Patrikainen made the initial save, but Huber collected the rebound and slid it past the netminder.
Moments later, it was Lahti answering as Lars Bryggman recorded his second goal of the season off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play. Bryggman carried the puck into the zone before dropping it off to Patrik Carlsson who slid it to Jimi Junkkari, Junkkari then slid it cross ice to Bryggman as he fired it past a sprawling Tolvanen.
With two periods gone, the teams stayed tied at 1-1 and that was largely thanks to Patrikainen who managed to stave off several quality opportunities for the visitors, with Salzburg outshooting Lahti 19-7.
Salzburg regained their aggregate lead in the third off a brilliant individual effort by Bourke. The forward carried the puck coast-to-coast as he deked around some defenders before lifting a backhand shot that beat Patrikainen stick side.
The visitors continued to pelt the Lahti netminder with shots, at one point leading 28-13 in the dying minutes of the third. For their effort, the Finns tried to establish some offensive zone time, but Salzburg’s fifth-ranked defence did well holding them off as the Austrians would go on to maintain their lead in the First Game of this two-game knockout series.