Title top favorite EHC Red Bull München has started confidently against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg in the playoff semi-finals of the German Ice Hockey League. On Friday evening, coach Don Jackson's team won 5-2 (2-0, 2-2, 1-0), the first of the four victories needed to advance in the best-of-seven series. "You have to be there from the beginning. Otherwise you have no chance here," said Grizzly forward Gerrit Fauser at MagentaSport.

The foundation for the well-deserved EHC success was a strong initial phase, in which the rested main round winner shot from all positions. The Wolfsburgers, who had only moved into the semi-finals on Wednesday with a victory in the seventh quarter-final in Straubing, found their way into the game late. "We wanted to get out like the fire department. We managed that quite well," said national striker Maximilian Kastner, who scored a goal (28th minute). Trevor Parkes (2nd), Emil Johansson (7th), Andreas Eder (29th) and Yasin Ehliz (54th) also scored.

For the Grizzlys, who are in a DEL semi-final for the third time in a row, Matthew Lorito (23rd) and officially Fauser (40th) were successful. In Wolfsburg's second goal, however, national goaltender Matthias Niederberger was unfortunate when he put the puck into the net himself. However, there are no official own goals in ice hockey. The series continues on Sunday in Wolfsburg (13.15 p.m./MagentaSport).