- Mannheim secure Playoff berth with win
- Adler Mannheim outshoot Vienna 32 to 10
- Vienna take on GKS Tychy in October to try and qualify
After the Vienna Capitals fell 1-6 in their opening game of the Champions Hockey League season at home to Adler Mannheim, Sunday afternoon was a chance for redemption for the Austrian side as they travelled to Germany for the return leg, but with Mannheim on a role in the Champions Hockey League it was always going to be a tough ask.
Mannheim came in with a perfect record and got off to a perfect start, less than four minutes into the game, Ben Smith opened the scoring after Tim Stützle found Tommi Huhtala at the back door, and with the shot not able to beat Bernhard Starkbaum from a bad angle, Ben Smith was on hand to tuck in the rebound. Mannheim doubled their lead in the second period as Brent Raedeke scored early in the second period, deflecting a shot from Cody Lampl into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage to the hosts.
Coming out for the third period of regulation, Mannheim were firmly in control of the game, and 20 minutes from booking their place in the CHL Playoffs, and their chances only imrpoved as Marcel Goc added a third of the night less than four minutes into the third period for a 3-0 lead. With the hosts controlling the tempo, they secured the three points with a 4-0 win after a late goal by Matthias Plachta, securing their place in the 2019/20 Champions Hockey League Playoffs, while Vienna will need results to go their way in October if they are to join Mannheim in the next round.
"We knew what we needed to focus on, we knew that Vienna would be better than in the first game"Mannheim Head Coach Pavel Gross on the victory over Vienna
"Vienna is a very good team with a strong coach. We had a good goalkeeper with us, unfortunately we fired too few shots tonight.
"Our powerplay is still too changeable, but congratulations to my team.
"We are qualified for the Playoffs after four games. That's good."
Also speaking after the victory that ensured Mannheim's place in the Playoffs was netminder Dennis Endras.
"We are very hapy about that. That was our goal in the locker room." Endras said.
"But we knew that no game would be easy. No game is given, no opponents are weak. I think we acted as a strong and very good team.
"I'm proud of my team and I am looking forward to the next matches in the CHL."