The Steinbach Black Wings prevail in an intensive duel against the Nitra HK with 4: 2. Despite numerous hardness deposits, the Upper Austrians remained focused and celebrated the second win in the third friendly, the first in front of a domestic audience.
Three days after the first test in front of a home crowd, the Steinbach Black Wings went into the third game of the pre-season. This time, too, the fans of their team strengthened their backs strongly from the start. This time the team was led onto Linz’s ice cream by goalkeeper Thomas Höneckl. Another change in the line-up was particularly pleased with the team: the Jonathan Oschgan, born in Linz, made his debut in the league at the age of just 17.
The Linz team recorded the first opportunity of the evening when the first line fought forward in the 4th minute. After a cross pass from Graham Knott, Niklas Würschl tried to put the disc into the slot, but the defenders of the guests were just right. Shortly afterwards, the Slovaks also spoke up. Adam Nemec brought the puck to the third of the attack via the neutral zone and tested the goalie of the Stahlstadt for the first time. Höneckl sensed the danger from the right and was able to prevent the goal into the far corner. In the 9th minute, Tomas Hranka also tried to put the guests in the lead and steered the puck from the left into the short corner. But the pane bounced off Höneckl’s shoulder, and the rebound was also no problem for the goalkeeper. Two minutes later, the home side found themselves in the attack. Emil Romig received a nice pass from Gerd Kragl, but could not accept the passport directly and the chance was unused. After a face-off in the Linz defense zone, Nitra-Center Robert Baco did not torch for long. He won the bully and immediately brought the disc on the goal, but again the Linz goalkeeper was on the spot. Four minutes later it was the guests who explained the tone. Josh Passolt came dangerously close to the goal and checked Thomas Höneckl. This went to the ground and tried to save his leg. Fortunately, defender Niklas Würschl was on hand and immediately knocked the puck out of the slot. In the 16th minute, the guests weakened themselves through a catch – and the Special team of Linz made the difference. After a minute in the power play, Niklas Würschl fired a one-timer on Dylan Ferguson, who could only ward off with effort. Emilio Romig reacted at lightning speed and sank the rebound to 1-0 (17th minute). With his third goal in a row, he also brought the Stahlstadt lead in the third game of preparation. With a punishment against Aljaz Predan on the side of the home team, we went into the first break of the evening.
Linzer want more
It continued for the home side with over a minute outnumbered. However, nothing was noticeable – instead, the Upper Austrians started to expand management and survived the out pay game without a goal. Graham Knott put the disc on Aljaz Predan, who finally failed due to Dylan Ferguson. Matej Paulovic tried to counter, but Höneckl did not let this puck happen either. In the following minutes the game shifted back and forth. In the 28th minute, Christoph Tialler drew attention to himself with a shot from the blue line. Although the attempt came into the short corner from a good angle, Ferguson prevailed. Two minutes later, Rafael Aigner tried to score the connection goal, but the Nitra defense adjusted his way. In the 32nd minute, the Stahlstädter finally managed: Graham Knott pulled forward with the window and sank the puck over the Kreuzeck to 2: 0. After a short handmade on the ice, the guests had to do without Tomas Hranka in the 34th minute, who received a two-minute penalty due to exaggerated hardness. This time, however, the Upper Austrians could not use the power play, which passed two minutes without a hit. In the 37th minute, the guests managed to score: Josh Passolt used Peter Valent to pass and put the disc behind the Linz goalie on the net. As soon as the Slovaks had shortened to 2-1, Niklas Würschl had to go to the penalty bench – but his stay there didn’t take long. Graham Knott served Ryan Mackinnon from the right side, who increased outnumbered with a shortiste to 3: 1 (39th minute). With this tour, the Linzer said goodbye to the second break. One leg position ensured that Niklas Würschl had to go to the penalty bench for two minutes. Exactly for crunchtime, Nitra was able to use the power play for himself and reduced to 3: 2 (46th minute) by a goal from Michael Kristof. However, the guests did not last long because they weakened themselves through another punishment. Due to a cross check, Milos Bubela had to go into the cool box. The home side again proved that evening that they were the stronger team and restored the old gap almost three minutes later. Brian Lebler won the disc in the middle, played it to Ken Ograjensek, who forwarded her to Shawn St. Aman. This finally let the goal bells 4: 2 ring (47th minute). The remaining minutes passed and the Stahlstadt celebrated their second victory in the test phase.
The Linzer will go to Budweis next Thursday, where they meet HC Ceské Budejovice. The next home game in the pre-season will take place on September 2 in Linz AG Eisarena. Tickets are available online at Tickets.blackwings.at and on the evening box.
Black Wings get second victory
Even in the last section, the hosts did not burn anything. Tim Geifes and Henrik Neubauer brought their line to the offensive and besieged the opposing goal. However, thanks to their goalkeeper, the guests got away unscathed. Two minutes later, both teams had to do without a field player because they had to go into the cool box due to exaggerated hardness. A few minutes later, Brian Lebler was also sent to the penalty bench, and Hugo Kovac had to go into the cabin early due to disciplinary penalty. The reason for this was a hard foul against Ryan Mackinnon. The Linzer continued to keep the upper hand on the ice and rarely allowed dangerous situations. In the 42nd minute, Elias Carmichael tried for the forecheck, but Shawn St. Amant braked him out after a few meters. A minute later, the goal scorer Emilio Romig came to the window directly in front of the Slovak goal, but there was no customer on hand. Immediately afterwards, Nitra found himself in the power play because Aljaz Predan had to pause for two minutes due to a stick. Milos Bubela used the majority and pulled forward. However, Greg Moro stood by his post and defended before the Puck could slip to Höneckl. The guests also failed the next time the guests failed – an imprecise passport thwarted them. Just a few seconds later, the Black Wings had to do without one of their defenders again.
blackwings.at, picture: Black Wings Linz/Eisenbauer
