Red Bull Salzburg handed Rögle Ängelholm their first loss of the season last night, beating the Swedes 3-1 in the First Game of their Round of 16 matchup.
After a goalless first period, it was the Austrians who would score the first goal of the game in the second frame thanks to Dennis Robertson. Following a faceoff win, Nicolai Meyer earned his first of two assists when he slid it back to the defenceman who corralled the puck near the blueline before letting it go for his first marker of the tournament.
Rögle would tie it up with less than two minutes to go in the middle frame when Ludvig Larsson capitalised on some beautiful passing on the powerplay. Kim Rosdahl found Oskar Stål Lyrenäs who backhanded it to Larsson who ripped it to the back of the net, but a two-goal final third would seal the home team's 3-1 win on the night.
"We feel good," started Robertson, "we played our game and that's a big part of what we're trying to do to be successful, but the job's not done."
What clicked for his team in the game? What does he think gave Salzburg the edge over the visitors?
"Playing together as a team," he thinks, "we had our plan on being aggressive and not giving them room to play and that worked out for us - we need to continue with that in the next game."
The crowd brought noise and energy which was hugeRed Bull Salzburg's Dennis Robertson
Salzburg will take a solid two-goal lead into their Return Game in Ängelholm, Sweden, which will be played next Tuesday. What does the defenceman expect from the game?
"We expect Rögle will bring their best effort - we'll be ready for a push in the next game, they'll be bringing it," he said.
Salzburg's arena was buzzing with the reigning CHL Champions facing their team and according to Robertson were a contributing factor to the home side's rather unexpected win.
"The crowd was good, it was great," he said, "they brought the noise and the energy for us which was huge!"
"But we're also excited to go to Ängelholm to play in front of their fans too," he added.