After two wins in a row, the Vienna Capitals face the Steinbach Black Wings Linz today. The Upper Austrian semi-finalists from the previous season have pulled themselves out of the bottom of the table by winning three games in a row and will make a formidable opponent for the team of interim head coach Fabian Scholz. The game will start at 7:15 p.m. and will be broadcast on sporteurope.tv.
The Vienna Capitals achieved their second win in the second game under interim head coach Fabian Scholz with a 6-3 away win at Hydro Fehérvár AV19. The Kagran team climbed to eighth place in the table. Top scorer Linden Vey scored big against the Hungarians with his first hat trick in the Caps jersey. The Viennese captain has 15 points (5 goals + 10 assists) after 12 appearances.
Mitch Hults is also currently recording more than one point per game. The American, who has 14 points (4 goals + 10 assists) from 13 games, contributed three assists yesterday. Jérémy Grégoire, who only made his competitive debut last Saturday, has scored one goal in each of his two appearances so far. The Canadian currently has three points in his personal account.
Another father of success was goalkeeper Sebastian Wraneschitz. The 23-year-old recorded 33 saves and after eight league games he has a catch rate of 92.31 percent. In terms of personnel, interim head coach Fabian Scholz, who won the championship title as a player with the Steinbach Black Wings Linz in the 2011/12 season, can again almost draw on full resources. Only Senna Peeters, who has been injured for a long time, will not be available tomorrow.
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz, semi-finalists last season, had a difficult start to the season. The Stahlstadters only took five points from the first ten games of the season, but head coach Phil Lukas’ team won the last three games. Linz’s winning streak began last Friday with a 3:2 win after overtime against the Moser Medical Graz99ers, after which Hydro Fehérvár AV19 (7:1) and HC TIWAG Innsbruck were defeated (4:2). The Linzers are currently in eleventh place in the table with 13 points. The first duel of the season between the Caps and the Black Wings on September 19th was quite memorable. Despite a temporary 1:4 deficit, the Viennese ultimately won 7:6.
Duel between two top power play teams
New signing Travis Barron is the be-all and end-all of Linz’s offensive efforts with 15 points (6 goals + 9 assists). The two goalkeepers Rasmus Tirronen (88.98 percent) and Thomas Höneckl (85.54 percent) had a mediocre start to the new season with current catch rates below 90 percent. Tomorrow two of the best power plays in the win2day ICE Hockey League will meet. The Upper Austrians’ power play is the second best in the league with a success rate of 27.27 percent, while the Viennese power play is third in the league with an insignificantly lower value of 26.83 percent. But while the Caps’ penalty kill is the fifth best in the league with a success rate of 83.67 percent, the Upper Austrians only have a value of 70.45 percent, the second worst in the entire win2day ICE Hockey League.
Statement Raphael Wolf, defender of the Vienna Capitals
Personally, I’m very excited; tomorrow’s game in Linz is something of a homecoming for me. I spent five years there and have good times with the club. The hall will shake tomorrow. We have to get through the first third, the Linzers will come like the fire brigade. To do this we have to be good defensively. If we can impose our game on them, we will be successful.
www.vienna-capitals.at, Image: HCI / PAPA Productions
