Grizzlys Wolfsburg got off to an excellent Champions Hockey League campaign with a comfortable win over Slovak debutantes HC05 Banska Bystrica by 4-3.

Just over five minutes had been played when the hosts took the leads thanks to Gerrit Fauser's opening goal. Less than four minutes later the Grizzlys were two up; a sliding Christoph Hoehenleitner deflecting the puck home at 9:01. 

Bystrica stopped the rot and managed to hold out until the period break, but were eventually broken down just past the halfway mark. Kris Foucault's inch-perfect pass found Philip Riefers unmarked at the back post to make it 3-0 with 34:31 gone.

A minute into the final period, Olivier Dame got Bystrica their first ever CHL goal with a shot from distance just 41 seconds in. With 41:10 played Alexander Weiss re-established the three-goal lead, and with the game ticking down Branislav Kubka scrambled home a loose puck near the net to finish. That looked to be the last goal of the game, until Patrik Lamper found the net with 13 seconds to play to end the game at 4-3.