After the Steinbach Black Wings were able to continue their winning streak against Vienna yesterday, they will face Budapest in their next home game tomorrow. The Hungarians will be appearing in the Linz AG Eisarena for the first time.
Two days after the HalloWien special, which the Stahlstadters won with a commanding 4:1, the next duel is already taking place in front of the home crowd. They will face Ferencvaros Budapest for the second time this season. The league newcomer narrowly emerged victorious from the first direct duel on Hungarian ice. Since then, however, Timo Saarikoski’s team has suffered five defeats in five games. The Hungarians had to admit defeat in overtime against VSV and Graz. They also had to give up the match against HC Bozen, which only resulted in a decision in the shootout.
Nevertheless, after 15 games played, they are currently in eighth place in the table. Only two points separate the Hungarians from the Upper Austrians, who were able to move up one place after yesterday’s success and are now tenth. Despite the Hungarians’ current lack of defeat, tomorrow’s match will not be a walk in the park. Especially the current top scorers of the league newcomers will not make things easy for the Stahlstadters. The Canadian Braeden Shaw leads the team’s internal statistics and scored eleven goals and nine assists in 14 matches. 29-year-old Tyler Coulter is close behind in second place on the list, recording five goals and ten assists so far.
Locker room update
In yesterday’s game against the Capitals, Brian Lebler and Co. were once again able to prove what they were made of. As in the game against Innsbruck, we were unable to take the lead first. Nevertheless, they were able to quickly equalize and use the momentum to score three more goals within three minutes. For long stretches of the game they were the more dominant team on the ice and therefore had the opportunity to build up a lot of pressure. The guests visibly felt this pressure, which made the match even more physical and emotions boiled over on the ice. Nine penalties, including a disciplinary penalty, further weakened the capital team during the game. Head coach Philipp Lukas has not planned any changes to Linz’s line-up for tomorrow’s duel against Budapest.
Linz AG Family Sunday
The Upper Austrians are also inviting everyone to the second of five family Sundays in the Linz AG Eisarena tomorrow. On these match days, children and young people up to the age of 18 receive a free standing ticket at the box office. In addition, the earlier start time of 3:30 p.m. ensures that even the youngest ones can experience the ice hockey fever up close. There is also another ticket campaign in cooperation with the OÖ Familienkarte. Admission tickets for the whole family (standing room in the Linz AG Eisarena) are available at www.tickets.blackwings.at or directly at the box office for just 25 euros. This offer is limited to 200 cards per game.
After tomorrow’s home game against Budapest, Linz will say goodbye to the annual international break until they head back to the record champions in Klagenfurt on November 12th. Two days later, the Stahlstadters return to the Linz AG Eisarena and challenge HC Pustertal. Tickets for the home games are available online at tickets.blackwings.at and at the box office.
Voices:
Head Coach Philipp Lukas: “We were able to continue a lot of what we had already started in the previous rounds. It was a good performance from our team yesterday. The cornerstone of our success was definitely the second third, where we were able to apply pressure shift after shift and we were then able to take the lead. In the third third, of course, the penalties and the special teams played a big role. We weren’t able to score, but we were able to drive the game home and we are very happy with the three points. What’s important now is that recover, but of course to look forward again. We still have one game before the break and of course we want to win it.”
Steinbach Black Wings Linz – Ferencvarosi Torna Club Budapest
📅 Basic round 17: Sunday November 2nd, 3:30 p.m., Linz AG Eisarena
📺 Live stream: sporteurope.tv
blackwings.at , Image: Fradimedia
