Linzer kept the upper hand 2:1 (1:0, 0:0, 1:1) and thus took revenge for the narrow 1:2 away defeat on September 23rd.
“If we go into it with energy and intensity, we will delight the fans. We bear the responsibility that they gain momentum. That went quite well, I had goosebumps,” said coach Philipp Lukas about the atmosphere in the Linz-AG-Eisarena, in which on Friday (7.15 p.m.) in the hit against the reigning champion Red Bull Salzburg the mark of 20,000 seasonal spectators will be easily cracked. In any case, the advertising drum was banged vigorously.
Kragl injured his knee
Yesterday, 2262 screwed the total number of visitors to 19,133. That gives an average of 2125. Defender Gerd Kragl doesn’t want to calculate at the moment, but is in a lot of pain. The 25-year-old team player limped off the ice after a foul in the middle of the first period (9th), Kragl had twisted his right knee, on which opponent Mitchell Hults was supposed to fall. A longer break is imminent.
When Bolzano is active, the intensity increases from the house. The penalty statistics show that the “Foxes” from South Tyrol are the toughest team in the league.
This is sometimes punished. For example by Brian Lebler, who chased the puck into the net after 8:55 minutes with a numerical advantage of 5:3. The Black Wings captain should follow up with his ninth goal of the season, the 2-0 (49th), in the final section. After Angelo Micelis 1:2 (52nd), it was a nail-biter until the end.
Incidentally, Salzburg stormed an hour earlier to make it 4-2 over Villach, tantamount to their fifth win in a row. So the Upper Austrians will need an absolutely top day to take the “Eisbullen” by their horns.
But who knows? With this team spirit, this passion, this commitment, a lot is possible. The EHC is characterized by its enormous compactness. Attacks are carried out with force and speed, the spaces for the opponent are made narrow. In the meantime, even Bozen seemed to be at his wits end despite optical superiority.
Salzburg defeated VSV
The Vienna Capitals defeated Graz in their comeback in their own hall after a two-goal deficit with 3:2 after extra time. KAC, on the other hand, lost 2-1 to Innsbruck on their own ice. Dario Winkler scored the decisive goal of the fourth-placed Tyrolean in the 31st minute. As a result, the once again unconvincing record champions remained without a point for the first time at the end of a four-man series in their renovated hall. In Feldkirch, the Pioneers also suffered a home defeat against Pustertal. This was also steep at 0:4 and also meant falling back to the bottom of the table.
In Salzburg, the hosts held their own against VSV 4:2 and secured their fifth success in a row with a double in the final phase. This worried Peter Schneider (56th) in majority and Lucas Thaler (58th), who grew up in Villach. The Capitals played in Vienna-Kagran for the first time since October 7 after repairing their defective ice reprocessing system and had to fight hard for success. After they had made up a 0:2 by the 45th minute and no further goals were scored in the final period, James Sheppard made it 3:2 after just 24 seconds of overtime.
Source: Nachrichten
