Adler Mannheim built up a 3-0 lead early in the second period, then survived a late push by Red Bull Salzburg to escape with a 3-2 victory. It’s Mannheim’s second straight home-ice win and Salzburg’s second straight loss on the road.

Mannheim scored the lone goal of an evenly-played first period while shorthanded. Just shy of the six-minute mark, Tom Kühnhackl forced a turnover along the boards as Salzburg was trying to break out of their own zone on the powerplay. The puck went off Kühnhackl’s skate and into the slot, where Kris Bennett found himself alone. Atte Tolvanen stopped his first attempt, but Bennett got his own rebound and scored on the backhand.

Salzburg’s best chance to draw even came in the 14th minute when Tyler Lewington sprang Peter Schneider with a breakaway pass, but the veteran Austrian national team forward couldn’t get the puck under control and never got a shot on goal. 

Mannheim took firm control of the game with two goals in the first 2:27 of the second period. First it was John Gilmour off the rush, streaking to the net and putting the finishing touch on Daniel Fischbuch’s centring pass. Then on a delayed Salzburg penalty, Jordan Szwarz cut out front from behind the net and made a brilliant behind-the-back pass to Maximilian Eisenmenger, who only had to tap the puck into the open side.

With a three-goal lead, Mannheim concentrated on defence the rest of the way. In fact, Salzburg didn’t get their first shot on goal of the third period until 6:44 remaining. By that point, the only question that remained was whether Arno Tiefensee’s shutout would remain intact or not. That would be answered in the negative with 2:11 to play when Ryan Murphy ripped a shot from the point through a screen, scoring Salzburg’s first goal of the season late in their second game.

With sudden life, Salzburg came with an offensive surge. They failed on a late powerplay but then Florian Baltram got his team within one with 29.3 seconds remaining. That’s as close as they would come, however.