Black Wings in earnings crisis: “It stinks quite a bit”

The Steinbach Black Wings still have the Hex’ on their racket. At 2:3 after extra time in Szekesfehervar they fell behind again. But even as they rode down the road to victory after a 2-1 lead, they found a way to lose the match. It was the sixth defeat in a row, and a crisis in results cannot be explained away.

Now it needs a turnaround – and fast. Because if it continues in this tone, the ice hockey season could already be over on Friday, March 3rd. Now it’s official: The people of Linz have to start the rocky journey into the so-called pre-play-offs, which will start on Tuesday with a short best-of-3 series. The top six are out of reach, seventh place after a strong start to the championship is disappointing.

On Sunday (5.30 p.m.) the last match in the regular season will take place, then the “Red Devils” from Hungary will be guests at the Untere Donaulände. It’s not just a game to take with you. A sense of achievement would be as necessary in the current situation as a bite of bread. The EHC knows that.

light and shadow

Black Wings coach Philipp Lukas drew an ambivalent conclusion after the performance in Szekesfehervar. “I’m happy with how we fought back after going 0-1. It was a hard fought game. On the other hand, I can’t believe how we handled the leadership. This is frustrating. We didn’t finish the match and gave up the 2:3 lightly,” said the 43-year-old Viennese, who doesn’t hang his head: “There were a lot of positives that we can take with us. At least we were in a position to win the game. There are difficult tasks ahead of us, we have to fight our way through.”

Defender Raphael Wolf knows that too, and frustration was written all over his face: “Yes, it stinks quite a bit. It was an equal duel. We need to put this aside now and recover. Then it’s on to the next fight and we’ll see how it goes.”