Salzburg wins in overtime thriller

06 Mar 2013 | Alan Ilijic

Medvescak hosted Salzburg for the third time in this series, a game both teams went into from the same position and this one was probably to-be-or-not-to-be game. Medvescak started bad, then had a crazy second period, and lost concetration in the third. Salzburg in the lead now, with two match points.

The Bears started the game with Michael Ouzas in net, while Bernd Bruckler stood between the pipes for Salzburg. Brandon Buck saw his return after the injury and showed in the early stage that he's the same old player he was before he was injured. Early in the period the problems for the Bearst occured. Dennis Bozic was called to the box, and Ryan Duncan takes advantage. He fired a shot so accurate that no one could have stopped it. Red Bull kept the momentum at their side, skated more and got their chances. After huge mistakes by the Bears' defensemen, Michael Duco puts the puck behind Ouzas in the 18th minute.

"We'll have to dig deep and concentrate, play the game of our lives in Salzburg and win it. The whole series has been momentum shifts, from game to game, from period to period, even from shift to shift. We'll have to concentrate better and win there, we did that twice this year, so we're confident", said Bears' captain Alan Letang after the game.

The second period started 4-on-4 as Sasa Martinovic and Rob Schremp were called to the box late in the first. The first Medvescak line finally worked fine and 25 seconds into the period Kyle Greentree scores when he tipped in the shot from Adam Naglich. Medvescak played agressive with high forecheck which finally pays off in the 28th minute and a goal from Andy Sertich, who received a beautiful pass and went one-on-one with Bruckler. Salzburg goalie didn't stand a chance. Kyle Greentree was unreal good offensively and defensively. In the 12th minute of the middle period Sasa Martinovic puts the puck behind Bruckler, so coach Pierre Pagé changes his goalies, and puts a young Slovene in the net, Luka Gracnar. Until the end of the period Medvescak scores yet another goal, this time through David Brine and it seemed that Medvescak will pull this one easily.

"What you've seen tonight were two teams that were evenly matched, and little details made a big difference in the outcome. I'd like to congratulate Medvescak for a exceptional second period, but in the end I think the powerplay was the key", short was Salzburg's assistant coach George Kingston.

Salzburg's captain Mathias Trattnig then put on a real show. After a combination play with Regier and Duncan, he scored from the distance to bring the game to a close. Roman Tomas then played a game which involved many to go crazy, as he was all alone with Naglich against the goalie (!) and missed the chance shooting directly into Gracnar. Adam Miller received two-minutes penalty on a soft call and the Bulls take advantage through Steve Regier to take the game in overtime.

The visitiors opened the overtime perido better with great chances against tired Bears. In the 13th minute phenomenal and outstanding Trattnig fires one up for a huge win on the road. Salzburg now leads in the series

3-2 and will try to finish it on Friday.

"We can't hang our heads, they had a powerplay late and tied the game. We'll have to live with it and win in Salzburg. We'll have to put a complete game over there and come back here to take the series", Kyle Greentree gave his vision of the game.

"Obviously, you always play to win and we are to put a good game back in Salzburg. The fourth win is always the hardest. We'll try to win a game of hockey there, if it doesn't happen, we'll come back here and do it here. We had a defensive breakdown in the second period, but we recovered and finally ended up winning a very important game. In overtime the game could have gone either way, I'm just happy we got a win in the end", Steven Regier of Salzburg commented the game.

Game 6 is scheduled for Friday in Salzburg.