Course of the game
Munich and Cologne went into forward gear without neglecting their defensive work. High-caliber goals were therefore initially lacking. That changed midway through the first period when Nikolaus Heigl, who was ready to shoot, was stopped at the last moment and then Mathias Niederberger made a spectacular save to prevent Cologne from taking the lead through Adam Almquist (10.). The special teams of both teams were then in demand. Munich failed to score when they were outnumbered, but it worked when they were short-handed: Eisenschmid converted Yasin Ehliz's brilliant flick pass to make it 1:0 (14.). This was the score going into the first break.
The Sharks got off to the better and, above all, luckier start in the second period. Parker Tuomie (22.) scored the equalizer with the help of a rebound from the plexiglass. An evenly balanced duel developed. Both teams had good opportunities - including a goal at the post by Jonathon Blum (28.) and Cologne's goal scorer Tuomie (37.). However, no further goals were scored in the middle period.
There were initially no major opportunities in the final period. Both teams defended consistently and allowed little to happen. It remained 1:1 until the 52nd minute, when Justin Schütz suddenly appeared in front of the Munich goal and scored to make it 1-2. The Red Bulls then tried everything again: Chris DeSousa (57.) had one of several top chances for Munich, but Sharks goalkeeper Julius Hudacek withstood the pressure and could no longer be beaten.