It was two tough battles between the Vaxjo Lakers and Red Bull Munich and in the end only one goal separated the two teams, but it was Vaxjo who came out on top. Read more in Gamecentre.

by Jens Rohra, with contribution from Pontus Bjers

The first game between Red Bull Munich and the Vaxjo Lakers in the Round of 32 ended up tight with a score of 1-1. For the return game, Munich suffered some major injuries such as Frank Mauer and defenceman Daryl Boyle, who are virtually irreplaceable. In an overall tight game the Lakers won against a tough Red Bulls team by a game score of 4-3 and 5-4 on aggregate.

Vaxjo started the game with much more power and speed. According to the overwhelming pressure of the Swedish team, it was only a matter of time before Vaxjo would score the first goal. After three minutes, Olli Palola struck on the power play. The Red Bulls tried hard to get into battles but the Lakers played well without giving up too many chances. But suddenly, the Red Bulls found themselves in front of Eriksson and youngster Maxi Kastner tied the score with his first CHL goal. He kept on working on the puck until it was behind Eriksson.

Munich forward Dennis Seidenberg commented, “We obviously didn’t have a good start. We were in our own end a lot in the first period and then we scored to tie the game 1-1 out of nothing. Then we had a good second period but I think we had to many short handed situations which cost us the game.”

Munich had the better momentum at the start of the second period. Firing an incredible slap shot, Richie Regehr brought his team temporarily in front. Vaxjo had major difficulties with the game of the Red Bulls. Giving his team a breather, Lakers coach Sam Halam took his timeout. After that, Vaxjo acted again like they did in the first period, scoring the tying goal and then added two more to lead by two after the second period.

In the last period Munich put more pressure on the game. They created more scoring chances than Vaxjo and well deserved to their effort Flaake scored to make it 4-3, which was the final score.

“I think it was up and down a lot,” Vaxjo head coach Sam Hallam, who despite winning thought his team could have been better. “We were a little light on details and towards the end we were too weak. We gave them way too many pucks and easy entries into our end. Generally, we need to deliver on a higher level throughout the game. It’s obvious at the end that we didn’t do that. To play with a lead doesn’t mean you just back home, it means that you take decisions and have a readiness which we didn’t manage to show tonight. But we got away with the victory and we’re happy about that.”

Overall it was as even as the first game in the Round of 32, but the Vaxjo Lakers competed more efficiently on their way to the net and took fewer penalties. The Lakers move on to the next round but Munich shouldn’t brood too long over this, as they gave it a good effort.  

Looking ahead to the next round against SaiPa Lappeenranta, Hallam said, “We’re going to play a good Finnish team. I hope that we take on that task in a humble way and that we can advance.”