Live from 5 p.m.: Black Wings are guests in the third quarter-final game in Bolzano

The Black Wings didn’t really celebrate the series equalizer. Because yesterday at 12.45 p.m. bus driver Robert Rammerstorfer set the 19-ton monster called the players’ bus in motion in the direction of Bolzano.

Michael Haga and Daine Todd did not join the Black Wings. So today in Bolzano, Linz not only have to do without the defender, but also without the first-line center. Julian Pusnik took over Haga’s position on an interim basis on Friday. Today either Brodi Stuart or Marco Brucker is expected on the top center position.

Match winner Emilio Romig in an interview after game 2:

Haga will be missed by the people of Linz – even if he rarely appeared on the scoreboard recently. The work he did and the space he freed up for Lebler and Gaffal through his pace – one shouldn’t underestimate Hagas’ failure. But not too big either. Because the Black Wings held up with all four lines on Friday. It will also be necessary today.

Head coach Philipp Lukas sums up Game 2:

But there are also worries in the fox camp. Because the 1:2 defeat in Linz was not taken into account. This was particularly noticeable at the beginning of the third section on Friday, when the team from Bozen made overly hard checks. One would have expected Linzer – and rightly so after the performances shown in the last third of the regular season – to be opponents that were much easier to play on. But Linz fights back. Probably today too.

Friday’s game again in pictures:

As a pastime until kick-off, we can recommend the latest episode of the icebreaker podcast. Christian Perthaler spoke to us about Linz’s first championship season (2002/2003):

Also recommended: Gerd Kragl’s comeback blog