Red Bull Munich had leads of 2-0 and 4-1, then allowed Yunost Minsk to close to within a goal in the third period, but that’s as close as they would come. On their home ice, the German champs came out pressing hard on offence and Mark Voakes and Trevor Parks on a couple of nicely executed passing plays put the Red Bulls up by two by the 13-minute mark. Pavel Volchek on a rebound got one back for Minsk before the first period was out, but two more goals by Voakes and Parks just 23 seconds apart early in the second put Munich back in the driver’s seat.

Yunost didn’t quit, though, and pecked away at the deficit. Anatoly Protasenya scored on a powerplay late in the second and then Pavel Razvadovsky on a rebound at even strength made it a 4-3 game. They couldn’t get any closer, though, as a string of Minsk penalties allowed Munich to kill off a good chunk of the remaining time in the Minsk zone. Igor Brikun made 39 saves and did all he could to keep his team in the game, but it wasn’t enough to get any points in Munich.