The last home game before the Olympic break awaits the Steinbach Black Wings Linz this Wednesday. The Upper Austrians will meet Bozen in the regular round for the last time.
Three days after the long-awaited away win against Innsbruck, the Stahlstadters invite you to the last match in the Linz AG Eisarena today before the two-week league break due to the Winter Olympics. For the last time during the regular season, head coach Philipp Lukas’ team will challenge HC Bozen, who are currently in fourth place in the table with 77 points. The people of Bolzano were able to win all three previous direct duels, including winning 7:4 in the last meeting.
After that, the South Tyroleans were unbeaten for over five games until they had to admit defeat once in a shootout against Salzburg and twice in overtime. Most recently, the Vienna Capitals were able to keep the Italians at bay with a 3-0 shutout. In the shots and saves statistics, head coach Doug Shedden’s team is the second best in the league. Cole Schneider and Brett Pollock, who lead the team’s internal top scorer list, are primarily responsible for the offensive success. In a direct comparison in the power play, the Linzers were able to pull ahead of Bolzano and took fifth place with 22.03 percent.
Locker room update
With the game against Innsbruck, which ultimately ended with a 3-2 win, they were able to score three important points in the fight for the (pre)playoff places. Brian Lebler and Co. dominated over the entire distance, but had to leave the match open until the end despite 41 shots. Against the Foxes, the Stahlstadters cannot afford this negligence in exploiting their chances. The power play could also be expanded with two continuous minutes of double superiority in the middle third. After a free Monday yesterday, head coach Philipp Lukas addressed these points during today’s team training. Niklas Würschl, who missed the weekend due to illness, came back in but will also sit out today’s game. Otherwise, there are no changes in the Upper Austrians’ line-up for the home game compared to Sunday.
The Steinbach Black Wings have one more match abroad before the Olympic break. Brian Lebler and Co. are heading to the record champions in Klagenfurt on Sunday. The next home game will be on February 20th against the Vienna Capitals. Tickets for this are already available online at tickets.blackwings.at and at the box office.
Voices
Gerd Kragl: “Basically we are satisfied with the performance on Sunday, but we have to work on not leaving such games so open, but rather being able to secure victory earlier. We have to play a lot with the screen today, set deep accents and finish. It will be a tough game today against Bozen.”
Head coach Philipp Lukas: “We know how important this game is today. We lost the last home game against Bolzano due to indiscipline. This will be an important part of our game and we have to stay organized. We have to continue to play with intensity and stay disciplined because we know that otherwise we will have to pay the price of being outnumbered.”
Steinbach Black Wings Linz – HCB Südtirol Alperia
📅 Basic round 44: Wednesday, January 28th, 7:15 p.m., Linz AG Eisarena
📺 Live stream: sporteurope.tv
blackwings.at , Image: Black Wings Linz/Eisenbauer
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