TJ Brennan scored twice, including the game winning goal, as Red Bull Salzburg clinched an overtime win over HC Bolzano to finish as top seeds in Group H. 

Salzburg held a comfortable lead until Bolanzo sparked into life in the third period to take the game into overtime, before Brennan decided to settle it. 

Salzburg’s red-hot powerplay (38.10 percent going into tonight’s game) had been a cornerstone of their CHL success this season, and it was their effectiveness on the man-advantage that saw them forge the lead in an uneventful opening period.

Twenty-nine seconds into the game’s first powerplay opportunity, Charles Vincent Lo Verde wound up and fired a rocket of a shot through traffic for his first CHL goal of the season. 

The tepid flow to the game continued into the second stanza where Salzburg added to their lead with a second goal midway through the period. Kilian Zündel skated into the zone before sending a shot from the top of the slot past Kevin Boyle. 

Boyle, who has been one the competition’s leading netminders this season, was again heavily screened and left with little chance to prevent the goal. Meanwhile, at the other end, Bolzano failed to kick into gear against Nicolas Wieser, who had stopped each of the host’s nine shots through the first two frames. 

The third period took an unlikely turn when Bolzano put their offensive shortcomings behind them with two goals in little over two minutes.

Michael Halmo produced a backhand finish to finally solve Wieser after successive penalties put the team’s four-on-four and Joseph Mizzi pounced on Dustin Gazley’s cross-crease pass to tie the game 2-2. 

Salzburg responded well to the unexpected twist and Brennan snapped a shot high up over Wieser’s blocker, to add to his earlier assist, and restore the Austrian side’s lead. 

Bolzano were not done yet however, and after pulling their goal for the extra attacker in the final minutes, leading scorer Brett Findlay notched his fifth of the season sending the game into overtime.

It was Salzburg’s powerplay that would ultimately determine the result, and with the game 11 seconds away from going to a shootout, Brennan sniped his second goal of the night.