After the Linzers were able to defeat the table leaders from the Pustertal yesterday, Brian Lebler and Co. will head to the Ländle tomorrow. There they meet the bottom of the table, the Pioneers.
Yesterday, rian Lebler scored two goals for his team to win against the Pustertal Wölfe and thus gain further important points in the table. After the duel with the leaders, the other end of the table awaits tomorrow. In the first duel of the new season, the Upper Austrians clearly won 5-2 against the Vorarlbergers. Brian Lebler and Shawn St-Amant each distinguished themselves with a brace. The Pioneers, on the other hand, continue to struggle with consistency and efficiency this season. There were 14 defeats in 18 games, and with 67 goals conceded, they had the second-worst defense in the league behind Innsbruck.
The offense hasn’t really gotten going yet and is the least dangerous in the win2day ICE Hockey League with 33 goals. Despite these numbers, Vorarlberg should not be underestimated because they always surprise with victories against top teams. Among other things, they brought Salzburg to their knees in overtime and the KAC in the shootout. They also celebrated a 4-1 win against Fehérvár. At the start after the international break, they had a hard-fought duel with their direct neighbors from Innsbruck, which was only lost 3-4 in overtime. Casey Dornbach is currently ahead in the internal scorer rankings. With four goals and seven assists, he is his team’s most reliable point provider.
Locker room update
The Steinbach Black Wings once again showed fighting spirit and willpower in yesterday’s game before Brian Lebler scored his team’s sixth home win in a row in overtime. However, away from home this season, the Stahlstadters still found it difficult to demonstrate the same determination as at home on foreign ice. This should be successful against the Pioneers tomorrow. Since the game starts at 4:00 p.m., the Upper Austrians set off for the Ländle at 8:00 a.m. However, there will again be some changes in head coach Philipp Lukas’ line-up. Luka Maver got stuck in the ice yesterday and suffered a lower body injury. An MRI in the next few days will show how long the Slovenian will be out. Andi Kristler also made an unfortunate move yesterday and had to go into the dressing room briefly during the game. However, the Austrian was lucky and was able to return to the ice later in the game. Instead of Luka Maver, Stefan Gaffal will return to the line-up after recovering from illness.
Next Friday, head coach Philipp Lukas’ team will continue away against the reigning champions from Salzburg. The next home game will be on November 23rd against the Drachen from Laibach. Tickets for this are available online at tickets.blackwings.at and at the box office.
Voices:
Head coach Philipp Lukas: “It will be unpleasant, they play well at home. They were also able to beat Klagenfurt at home. They are a team that has been in a lot of games, even if they haven’t won yet, it is a team that we have to be wary of. We need our best performance tomorrow and everything we put in yesterday has to be the same tomorrow.”
Stefan Gaffal: “We can’t let ourselves be deceived by the table situation, we know it’s difficult to survive there and we can’t underestimate it under any circumstances. We have to play our ice hockey as best as possible for 60 minutes or more if necessary and then, as we saw yesterday, we don’t have to be afraid of anyone.”
Pioneers Vorarlberg – Steinbach Black Wings Linz
📅 Basic round 20: Sunday November 16th, 4:00 p.m., Vorarlberghalle
📺 Live stream: sporteurope.tv
blackwings.at , Image: BWL / Eisenbauer
