The start of the pre-playoffs in the win2day ICE Hockey League will take place on Wednesday. The remaining two quarter-final participants will be determined in “best-of-3” series. While the Vienna Capitals face Hydro Fehérvár AV19, the EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV face the Steinbach Black Wings Linz. Game two of the series follows on Friday, possible playoffs would take place on Sunday. The quarter-final series begins on Tuesday, March 10th.
The Vienna Capitals finished the regular season in seventh place and selected the tenth-placed Hydro Fehérvár AV19 as their opponent in the pre-playoff pick. The Hungarians barely made it into the postseason. Until 34 seconds before the end of the last regular season game against FTC-Telekom, they were behind 1:2, which would have seen their local rivals move past Fehérvár in the table. But then Anze Kuralt scored the equalizer and secured their place in the pre-playoffs. Both teams met in the pre-playoffs last season. At that time, Fehérvár narrowly won the series 2-1, the playoff ended 3-2. So far this season, the Hungarians have only been able to win one of the four duels against the Viennese. In total, the two teams have faced each other 106 times in the league so far: 70 wins were won by the Capitals and 36 by Fehérvár. However, most of the matches were extremely close – almost 50 percent were decided by just one goal difference.
Villach meets Linz
In the second pre-playoff duel, the eighth-placed team in the regular round, EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV, and the ninth-placed team, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz, face each other. Only one point separated both teams. An exciting encounter can therefore be expected, also because both teams won two matches each in the regular round. A look at the historical head-to-head also promises close games: out of 184 meetings so far, VSV won 94, the Black Wings 90. In 74 cases, only one goal decided the game.
win2day ICE Hockey League:
Wed, March 4th, 2026:
7:15 p.m.: Vienna Capitals – Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: OFNER, PIRAGIC, Puff, Zgonc
Standing in the “best-of-3” pre-playoff series: 0-0
7:15 p.m.: EC iDM heat pumps VSV – Steinbach Black Wings Linz
Referees: HRONSKY, NIKOLIC M., Bedynek, Jedlicka
Standing in the “best-of-3” pre-playoff series: 0-0
Both games will be broadcast on streaming partner Sporteurope.tv.
ice.hockey , Image: VSV/STEFAN
