The Steinbach Black Wings Linz get the first victory in the first test game. After a perfect start and faster two-goal tour, Kassel brings the match into overtime. There, Graham Knott secures the Linzern success after 22 seconds.
Exactly 134 days after the bitter departure in the semi -finals against the KAC, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz got back into the game on Wednesday evening. In the first of a total of six test games, the Upper Austrians met the Kassel Huskies from the DEL2 in Zell am See. With Brian Lebler and Andreas Kristler, two regulars got a break after the first intensive week.
Nevertheless, the Linz started determined and came to the first big chance after just a few moments. Emil Romig, who returned to the first storm formation after almost a year of injury, put a pass exemplary in the run of Shawn St-Amant. The goalkeeper was up and off, unpacked a nice hook, but failed to goalkeeper Philipp Maurer. Both teams were unimpressed by the hard construction phase and moved the disc through the neutral zone quickly and again. The Huskies disturbed the construction of the Stahlstadt residents several times with hard duels, which, however, cleverly freed from the clasp.
In the ninth minute, the time had come: a new addition was allowed to celebrate the first goal for itself and his new team. Aljaz Predan received a nice pass from his Slovenian compatriot Ken Ograjenšek and used it confidently to 1-0. The North Hesse reacted promptly and in return came to a good chance of compensation. Tyler Benson received the pass on the right post, but only hammered it from an acute angle. It was quick: On the other hand, the Steinbach Black Wings made it ice cold again and only increased two minutes after the lead goal. Emil Romig got a strong pass in the middle, did not torch for long and scored 2-0. With the dry lead, the team of Head Coach Philipp Lukas continued to work and survived the first outnumbered situation in the 16th minute. When Logan Roe had to go to the penalty bench because of an exaggerated hardness, the second long -awaited returnee in the Linz squad also had the chance of the perfect comeback: Stefan Gaffal drove a counterattack on the right side, hunted his wristshot exactly into the fishing hand of Maurer. With the successful kick -off third, the break siren sounded for the first time.
Huskies shorten and indicate sound
At the beginning of the second third, little of the game changed: Both teams continued to switch quickly, but kept stuck in the curve. In the 25th minute, the Linzers were allowed to test their power play for the first time, but initially struggled.
After a coordination error in his own third, Clemens Sager gave his opponent his opponent, suddenly stood completely freely in front of Tirrons and defeated it to 1: 2 goal. Even after that, ST-AMANT and his colleagues in the power play had a hard time being positioned and had the possibility passed unused. At half-time of the game, Thomas Höneckl came from the bank for his goalie partner and immediately distinguished himself with a strong parade: Maciek Rutkowski came to a conclusion in the slot, but the Linz goalkeeper grabbed it safely from a short distance. The Steinbach Black Wings accepted the wake -up call and subsequently became much more active. Luis Lindner hammered a shot from the left side onto the gate, but got stuck on masons. Two minutes later, Würschl tried it with the same idea from the right side of the blue line. His shot was deflected dangerously in the middle, but walked just past the destination. Thomas Höneckl was also checked on the opposite side with two long shots, but remained confident. A few seconds before the second break, Graham Knott danced elegantly through the opposing defense. However, the goal missed the goal on the left.
Graham Knott with the game winner in overtime
With a wafer -thin lead for the Linz, it went into the last 20 minutes in which the huskies acted more powerfully. While the Stahlstädter was lurking on the counterattack, the Germans rotated in the third of Thomas Höneckl. The goalie was challenged twice shortly after the restart, but was on the spot both when the left Hashmarks and a subsequent peasant trick from Dominic Turgeon. In the 45th minute, Gerd Kragl drove a quick relief attack. Well guarded by his opponent, his conclusion from the left was not a problem for Maurer. The Steinbach Black Wings subsequently tried to keep the disc away from his own danger area, but acted somewhat over -motivated in places. Stefan Gaffal stretched a defender behind the opposing goal and had to go to the penalty bench for two minutes. Kassel increased the pressure and even hit Ben Stadler’s direct acceptance. With a little luck and committed penaltykilling, the Linz survived this phase unscathed. In the next change, Logan Roe even won a numerical advantage for his team. The second power play of the evening worked much better: Both Special teams were able to settle for a long time in the opposing third – but the crucial pass that would have caused real goal.
This turned the show of strength into the last eight minutes. Luis Lindner opened this with two fire -threatening spacer shots, but both Pusnik and Gaffal narrowly missed the margin. The last three minutes were running and the match still saw the equalization. After a wonderful pages relocated, Hunter Garlent took off directly on the left post and hammered the disc 2: 2 in the stitch. The duel went into the overtime in accordance with performance, which should only last 22 seconds. Graham Knott started from the face-off and shot with a nice solo to 3: 2 game winner. Afterwards, both teams tried a shootout, which Kassel secured with two goals.
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz will continue for the coming week with two home games. On Tuesday and Friday, the Upper Austrians will meet the top clubs from Liberec and Nitra. Tickets for this are available online at Tickets.blackwings.at and at the box office.
Kassel Huskies – Steinbach Black Wings Linz 2: 3 NV (0: 2, 1: 0, 1: 0, 0: 1)
Goalscorer: 0: 1 Aljaz Predan (9th min), 0: 2 Emil Romig (11. Min) 2: 3 Graham Knott (61. Min), 1: 2 Clemens Sager (25th min), 2: 2 Hunter Garlent (57th min)
Blackwings.at, Image: BwL
