- Salzburg and Bern met in Austria, both with a chance at topping the group
- Bern came into the game with an unbeaten record to maintain
- Late drama as Alexander Rauchenwald gives Salzburg the 3 points they need
With the top spot in Group G still on the line in the final group game of the 2018/19 Champions Hockey League, Red Bull Salzburg played host to SC Bern just a week after the two teams went all the way to a shootout in an eventual win for Bern.
A regulation win was all Salzburg needed coming into the game to leapfrog their Swiss opponents into the top spot, and they came out the stronger of the two sides, but couldn’t find their way past Leonardo Genoni, who’s been superb through his first five appearances in this year's tournament.
Then midway through the period, the first goal came. A bad pass in their own zone handcuffed defenseman Martin Štajnoch, giving Thomas Rüfenacht a clear shooting opportunity and he roofed the puck past netminder Steve Michalek for a 1-0 lead for the visitors.
Salzburg kept pressing but still couldn’t quite solve Genoni, with their best chance of the period coming from Dustin Gazely on a breakaway, but he couldn’t quite keep his balance and was forced to shoot from distance instead of trying to dance around him, as the one goal cushion for Bern lasted right into the second period.
It was two great goaltending displays to start the second period, but then late in the middle frame, Bobby Raymond finally got the hosts on the score sheet, firing a rocket past Genoni who had a lot of traffic in front, but they’d need to find a way to grab another if they were to top Group G, with Bern needing just a point to remain in pole position, but again both netminders were doing all they could to keep it a tied game heading into the final period, with Salzburg unable to capitalise on a late period powerplay.
The goaltending battle continued into the third period, with neither side able to get that go-ahead goal until there were 96 seconds left, and the game needed a hero.
A pass in front from Dustin Gazely was tipped into the slot, landing right in front of Alexander Rauchenwald who made no mistake and snapped his shot into the net, giving Salzburg their first lead of the night, and one that stuck until the final buzzer sounded, meaning that Red Bull Salzburg top Group G at the death, getting all three points they needed, while Bern see their unbeaten streak come to an end, finishing the group stage with three wins, two overtime wins and their first loss.