Opening day on the road is always a tough game. Wolfsburg found that out on Friday as they traveled north to Hamburg to take on the rival Hamburg Freezers. Packing the O2 World Arena Hamburg were 10,183 rabid, flag-waving fans, and the home team sent them home happy, defeating Wolfsburg 4-2.
It was a competitive first period, with both teams failing to capitalize on some early chances. Not until the 16:01 mark did Hamburg’s Druval Westcott open the scoring. After Wolfsburg’s Gregory Moore drew 2 + 10 for a check to the head or neck, a cross-ice pass was deflected towards Westcott at the point. He made no mistake, firing it past Sebastian Vogl for the game’s first goal. Special teams were the early story, with 18 minutes of penalties handed out by referee Roland Aumüller. Wolfsburg got their opportunity to equalize soon after, taking advantage of a charging call against Hamburg. On the powerplay, Norm Milley took the puck behind the net before feeding Matthew Dzieduszycki, who distracted Freezer keeper Dimitrij Kotschnew with improbable consonant pairings before snapping the puck past him at the 19:00 mark.
Sadly, Grizzly Adams couldn’t hold the momentum from the last-minute first period goal. Early in the second, Hamburg’s David Wolf took advantage of a horrendous defensive gaffe in the neutral zone, going in 2-on-1 and beating Vogl to put the Freezers back up. Wolfsburg may feel aggrieved, as they appeared to tie the game up again moments later, only to have the goal overturned on video review for goalie interference. Only moments later, Hamburg’s Julian Jakobsen sprung Brandon Reid with a beautiful breakout pass. Reid would feed Christoph Schubert who beat Vogl on the backhand for the eventual game winner.
Dzieduszycki would make it close again in the latter stages of the second with a sweet snipe from the right circle, but it wouldn’t be enough. The teams traded chances in the third period, and Hamburg withstood a late 6-on-4 powerplay before potting an empty netter.
Next up for Wolfsburg is their home opener on Sunday against the Krefeld Penguins.