The Straubing Tigers celebrated a dream debut at their ice hockey premiere in the Champions League.
Lower Bavaria won 4-0 (0-0, 3-0, 1-0) against twelve-time Polish champions Comarch Kraków on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies Wolfsburg suffered a home defeat at the start, losing 2:5 (0:1, 2:3, 0:1) to the Swiss champions EV Zug.
After an outstanding second third, in which Straubing shot out a comfortable lead with goals from Marcel Brandt (24th), Taylor Leier (38th) and Stephan Daschner (40th), the 28-year-old Canadian Leier (49th) scored with his second goal of the evening all clear. On the way to winning the group, which sporting director Jason Dunham had called for, the Tigers mastered their first hurdle more than confidently.
In the parallel game, the Grizzlies shortened the lead twice in the second half after being down 2-0 by newcomers Laurin Braun (35′) and Luis Schinko (38′). But the Swiss champions found the right answer immediately (35th, 39th), again pulled away by two goals – and then didn’t let anything burn.
