No luck on Friday the 13th

There are hockey cracks who enter the rink one foot in front, follow a certain order when the team marches in, or bring a souvenir from home to the locker room. Rituals are just part of the business. For some, Friday the 13th is a lucky day, but for the Steinbach Black Wings it was a date to forget. In front of 3105 spectators, the people of Linz slipped into a 1:4 (0:1, 0:1, 1:2) home defeat against second-placed Bozen, which further intensified the fight around the ominous line.

EHC’s place in the top six qualifying directly for the play-off quarter-finals is secured by just four points. A goal by a birthday boy didn’t change that. Graham Knott, who shot in 33 seconds after the start of the 3rd period in the power play to make it 1:2 (41st), turned 26 yesterday.

The Black Wings offensively lack penetrating power, which is mainly due to a personality. Captain Brian Lebler, who has 13 goals and seven assists this season, is out due to a shoulder injury. The 34-year-old has been out of action since the New Year’s match against Innsbruck (1: 3) after a failed check that ended with a crash landing in the gang. In the meantime, the ex-team striker has started light ice training.

“We don’t want to rush anything,” Linz coach Philipp Lukas puts on the brakes. A game on Sunday (5.30 p.m.) against bottom-placed Vorarlberg is not to be expected. Then the Black Wings can’t afford to fall by themselves like yesterday when they ran into a counterattack with a majority to make it 0:2 (40th minute).

author

Alexander Zambarloukos

Sports Editor

[email protected]

follow author

info By clicking on the icon you add the keyword to your topics.

info
Click on the icon to open your “My Topics” page. They have of 15 tags saved and would have to remove tags.

info By clicking on the icon you remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the theme to your themes.