Red Bull Salzburg and HC Bolzano are now tied atop Group F with 12 points each, following Bolzano's 5-3 win in the Mozart city.

Salzburg had a golden chance to open the scoring on an early four-minute powerplay and they did just that. Their first apparent goal was called back due to a dislodged net – a recurring issue throughout the first period – but just past the first period’s midpoint, T.J. Brennan and Peter Hochkofler played catch and the point and Hochkofler fired a low wrister through a crowd to make it 1-0 for the home team.

But Bolzano struck twice in the latter half of the period to take the lead. First it was Mathew Maione backhanding a puck in the slot past Nicolas Wieser to tie the score. And then they took the lead on the powerplay with just over a minute to go, when a wide-open Brett Findlay put in a rebound after Daniel Catenacci’s initial shot.

To start the second period, Salzburg put on the pressure and, at one point, outshot Bolzano 21-7 despite trailing on the scoreboard. However, not only did they fail to tie the score, but the Foxes extended their lead when Findlay potted his second of the game, depositing a pinballing puck past Wieser to make it 3-1.

Late in the second period, Salzburg’s Keegan Stephen Kanzig was given a major penalty and game misconduct for a check to the head, which carried over into the third period. Salzburg killed that off, but failed to transform that momentum into an offensive that could cut into the two-goal deficit.

However, Salzburg got a five-minute powerplay of their own after Catenacci got a checking to the head penalty and Peter Schneider scored right off an attacking-zone faceoff to make it 3-2 with 4:16 to go.

The teams traded goals after that, with Bolzano scoring a pair of empty-net goals and Danjo Leonhardt getting one for Salzburg with a 6-on-5 numerical advantage, but the visitors from Südtirol held on for the win.