Less than 48 hours after the disappointing defeat in Villach, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz have their next challenge abroad. In Innsbruck, the Linzers are fighting for a reaction to the Haie in the fight for the (pre-)playoffs.
After yesterday’s bitter setback in Villach, Brian Lebler and Co. once again need to focus on the future. Tomorrow the Upper Austrians will once again be challenged to score points away from home. The Innsbrucker Haie are currently at the bottom of the table in the win2day ICE Hockey League with 26 points. Nevertheless, the Innsbruck team at home should not be underestimated. They celebrated six of their nine wins this season on home ice, including against top teams such as the Graz99ers, the KAC and twice against the Adler from Villach. With 98 goals scored, head coach Ryan Kinasewich’s team is also in the bottom of the table in these statistics, but the Sharks can still be dangerous offensively. They managed a 9-6 win at home against the current league leaders from Klagenfurt, in which seven different players were able to score.
However, the Tyroleans’ biggest weak point is and remains their defense. With 181 goals conceded, they have by far the worst defense in the league. Between the posts, Matthew Vernon tries to correct the mistakes of those in front of him and achieves a solid catch rate of 89.62%. The Innsbruck team are also vulnerable when they are outnumbered: with a rate of 73.21%, they are also at the bottom of the table here. The Haie were able to get four points from the last six games, three in a 3-2 home win against the Graz99ers and one against Bozen, where they only had to admit defeat in overtime. For the Upper Austrians it is the fourth and last duel against Innsbruck in the regular season. The Linzers were able to prevail in each of the previous encounters. In the three games, the Stahlstadters scored 13 goals, with 12 different players getting on the scoresheet. For the Sharks, Sebastian Benker leads the internal scorer list with 37 points.
Locker room update
Yesterday the Upper Austrians were unable to find their way into their game against Villach. As so often this season, head coach Philipp Lukas’ team put themselves in trouble through individual mistakes. While the Stahlstadters once again had problems penetrating the dangerous zones with the target, they gave up too much space and time in their third. It took less than 30 seconds before Linz fell behind again after Brian Lebler’s important equalizer.
No ban for Lebler
The captain, who was able to end his goal drought of nine games without scoring, had to go to the locker room early after a tough start. Fortunately, the game-time disciplinary penalty has no further consequences for the striker and he will also lead his team in Innsbruck. Things look worse for Luis Lindner, who was attacked unnecessarily hard half a minute before the end. The defender is out for the time being with an upper body injury. Niklas Würschl was also unable to take part on Saturday due to illness. Graham Knott’s deployment was decided at short notice due to an injury.
After two games abroad, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz return in front of their home crowd next Wednesday. Tickets for the duel with HCB Südtirol are available online at tickets.blackwings.at and at the box office.
Voices
Brian Lebler: “We are frustrated about last night because we know how important this game was. Being down 3-1 after the first period is not good enough. We had too many turnovers again and it is too easy to play against us. However, we have to concentrate on the next important game. We have little self-confidence away from home, but we have to accept this situation and find a way to deal with it. It starts with the first shift and lasts until the end – then we have to be able to say that we are proud of are our achievement.”
Head Coach Philipp Lukas: “We put in a lot of effort, but once again it was our own mistakes that cost us the game. We have to learn to deal with that. Cohesion is the most important thing. It’s difficult to have a good feeling when you find yourself after three defeats in which you gave everything physically and keep defeating yourself. We have to work for this good feeling and minimize such mistakes in order to be a difficult opponent. That’s the big challenge at the moment.”
www.blackwings.at, Image: Black Wings Linz/Eisenbauer
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