Before an enthusiastic crowd of 11,812, Kölner Haie defeated Bílí Tygři Liberec 4-2 in the First Game of this Champions Hockey League Round of 16 series.

The home side opened the scoring just shy of the game’s seven-minute mark. Defenceman Robin Press carried the puck in from the blueline and fired a shot that hit the goalpost, and Dominik Bokk buried the rebound.

Liberec levelled it less than six minutes later. Off the rush, Jaromír Pytlík went wide and centred out front to Adam Musil, who scored on a one-timer from the slot.

Shortly after killing a penalty, Liberec took the lead at the 28-minute mark, again scoring off the rush when Adam Najman’s pass attempt from the right-wing boards hit the skate of a Cologne defenceman and deflected into the net.

But Cologne then tied the game and took the lead with two quick strikes 25 seconds apart. The first goal game shorthanded when Ryan MacInnis intercepted a pass in his own zone and went coast to coast, scoring on a backhand deke.

That goal finished the Liberec powerplay, and then off the rush, Press fed Markus Ljungh, who fired the puck into the roof of the net.

With just over nine minutes to play, Liberec had a golden chance to tie it back up but Janne Juvonen made a brilliant pad save off Radan Lenc from point-blank range.

Then with 7:33 to go, Die Haie went up by two. A collision at centre ice led to a Cologne fast break, and MacInnis fed Tim Fleischer, who made a great play to receive the pass between his legs before firing it home.

Liberec had to kill a late penalty, greatly reducing the time they had to cut the deficit. That means they’ll start next week’s Return Game at home with a two-goal deficit to overcome.