HC Merano handled the Wipptal Broncos 5-2 in regulation, and the shape of it was simple: a two-goal cushion built one period at a time, then a five-goal third that left no room for the visitors. The Broncos scored twice in the final frame and still lost the period 3-2.
Merano was up 1-0 after twenty minutes and 2-0 after forty, single goals in the 15th and 30th minutes doing the work while the Broncos found nothing. The third opened up immediately — Merano struck at 41 — and although Wipptal answered inside the closing minutes, at 53 and 56, the margin was already beyond them.
The number that carries this one is the period split: 1-0, 1-0, 3-2. Merano scored in every period and never trailed, and the Broncos' only two goals of the night both came after the game had been decided.