There was definitely a cagey feeling about the first period in Hradec Králové, both teams were eager not to make the first mistake and give their opponent an early advantage. Consequently, the first period finished 0-0, but the home side finished with a slight advantage on the shot count. Despite being outshot, Adler Mannheim had the better of the early chances. Three minutes in, a fantastic stretch pass by Tim Stützle sent Tommi Huhtala in alone on Mountfield HK netminder Marek Mazanec, but the Finnish forward blazed wide on the breakaway chance. Five minutes later, Mountfield would have their best chance of the opening period. They pounced on a turnover in their offensive zone, and Lukáš Cingel was found all alone in front of net, but Johan Gustafsson in the Mannheim goal made a super point-blank save to deny the Slovak forward.

The second period was more of the same. As fantastic defensive play and netminding served to frustrate the forwards. Mid-way through the period, Mannheim’s young phenom Tim Stützle showed that he also has defensive prowess, as he made a fantastic diving block to deny a certain Tomáš Vincour goal.

Seconds later Johan Gustafsson was once again superb to deny Kevin Klíma’s close-range effort, after the Mountfield HK broke away from his marker to go in all alone on the Swedish netminder. Mannheim’s best chances of the second period came in the dying minutes. On the powerplay, the German club used a good cycle to work the puck down low, eventually finding Huhtala once again in front of goal, but his shot was blocked by the defenceman and sailed wide. A minute later, Cody Lampl had a fantastic shift in the offensive zone. He used a stick lift to steal the puck off the opposition, before turning in the zone and firing a wicked wristshot which forced Mazanec to be at his best to make the save.

A Mark Katic hooking penalty gave Mannheim’s Czech opponents a chance of breaking the deadlock in the final period of this first leg tie, however, Mountfield would struggle to generate any solid chances. It would take until the 57th minute for a team to finally get on the board, and to the delight of the home fans, it would be Mountfield who got the goal. For one of the first times in the game they gained the zone with speed, Kevin Klíma worked the puck along the left wing and found Aleš Jergl, who cut into the centre of the zone and fired a quick wristshot which handcuffed Gustafsson in the Mannheim net, and lit the lamp. Gustafsson would have to be at his brilliant best with two minutes to go in the final period to make a fantastic double stop to keep the deficit only at one goal, as Mountfield captain Radek Smoleňák pounced on his own rebound but was denied by the Swede. The buzzer went, with Mannheim knowing that they have all the offensive weapons to get back into this tie, but their display will have to be much better at home next week.