Image: MARKUS PRINZ
Steel Wings Linz AG no longer have a chance of advancing to the pre-playoffs, but they celebrated a respectable success in the sixth game of Qualification Round A.
Linz got off to a mediocre start in front of 800 spectators in Meran and fell behind 0-1 after almost 9 minutes of play thanks to Christian Borgatello. What followed was unprecedented in the Steel Wings’ young history: five goals in a row between the 19th and 27th minutes of the game put the guests on course for an away win. Outstanding: the Finn Mikael Saha. The 28-year-old equalized 1-1 in the power play (19th) and gave the Upper Austrians a 2-1 lead just one and a half minutes later.
After the break, it took the Linzers 257 seconds until the hosts scored again: Maximilian Theirich converted a pass from Saha to make it 3-1 (25th). Just a minute and a half later, Dennis Sticha scored after a pass from his brother Timo to make it 4-1 (26th). And another 42 seconds later, Mikael Saha – again in the power play – increased the score to 5:1. This ended Meran goalie Andrei Makarov’s working day after conceding five goals from 14 shots. After that, the guests loosened the reins a bit again, Merano scored the 2-5 goal through Calder Anderson (35th). But Linz had the right answer before the second period break with another power play goal from Saha (40th).
The final section was more balanced, Meran has not yet completely written off the points despite being four goals behind. This explains why coach Jarro Skalde took goalie Matteo Calvi off the ice in the 55th minute. The beneficiary was once again Mikael Saha, who scored his fifth goal and sixth scorer point with an empty net (56th) to make the final score 7-2.
The Steel Wings are in last place in the Qualification Round A table with six points left with two rounds to go. On Saturday, the young Linz team will host HC Gherdeina in the last home game of the season – with free entry for the first 500 fans. At the end of the Qualification Round we go away to Jesenice a week later.
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
