Grizzlys Wolfsburg turned in a great effort in a must-win game to beat Frolunda Gothenburg 3-2 and advance to the next round. Read more in Gamecentre.
After getting drubbed in Pardubice just two days earlier, Grizzlys Wolfsburg responded in a big way by beating the defending European club champions, Frolunda Gothenburg, 3-2 to advance to the CHL's Round of 32.
The Grizzlys knew what they had to get done, and their motivation was clear right from the opening face-off, as they scored two goals in the first nine minutes. They opened the scoring on the power play, when Jeff Likens made a cross-pass to Tyson Mulock, who put the puck over the right shoulder of Johan Gustafsson. Less than two minutes later, Tyler Haskins carried the puck deep into the Frolunda zone and fed Sebastian Furchner in front, who scored on another high shot.
As expected, Frolunda began to push back after their slow start, but they were met by tenacious checking and solid defence from Wolfsburg at every turn. The home team got a goal back in the 14th minute when Casey Wellman batted a rebound out of mid-air past Sebastian Vogl. In the second period, Frolunda fired 10 shots at Vogl, and the one that beat him might have been the easiest – a dump-in by Mats Rosseli Olsen that fooled the German goalie near the game's midpoint – and the game was tied.
The Grizzlys needed a regulation win and, knowing that, started trying to press more as the third period went on. Finally, with 5:11 to play, they cashed in on the power play for the second time in the game. Lubor Dibelka made a great slap-pass which found Brent Aubin at the side of the net, and he tipped it past Gustafsson to put Wolfsburg back in the lead. Frolunda called a timeout and pulled their goalie in the last minute, but were unable to generate any great chances in the late going, as the Grizzlys held on for the win.
“To be honest, we didn’t play well and our performance today is not something we’re proud of,” acknowledged Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg. “Our passing was really bad and we topped that with bad discipline, taking bad penalties and that caught us today as they scored two of their goals on the PP.”
"I thought it would be a good game here tonight because we didn't play great in Pardubice, so it was a good reaction," said pleased Wolfsburg coach Pavel Gross. "We played great defence, were hard on the forecheck and we just went for it. They sacrificed their bodies, blocked some shots – especially on the 6-on-5 (in the last minute) – and it's a big win."
On what the team's accomplished, Gross said, "This is great for our organization, for the guys, our fans and our small city. We said we wanted to be first or second in our group and we did, so congrats to the team on a great job."