The start of 2026 has been successful, but the Vienna Capitals are already facing the next difficult challenge. The Viennese will face series champions EC Red Bull Salzburg from 7:15 p.m.
The team from the city of Mozart started a winning streak that now includes nine games with a hard-fought 4-2 win in Vienna on December 7th. The previous season duels between the Caps and Salzburg were all close duels, but the Red Bulls left the ice as winners every time. Today’s match will be broadcast live on sporteurope.tv.
The Vienna Capitals won the New Year’s game against Olimpija Ljubljana 3-2 yesterday, Thursday. Head coach Kevin Constantine’s team managed to keep the league’s best offense in check. On the offensive, Carter Souch became a match winner. The 24-year-old Canadian scored all three of the Viennese goals, recording his first hat trick for the Capitals. Accordingly, the left-handed shooter extended his lead at the top of the team’s internal top scorer rankings. With 14 goals, Souch is tied for tenth place in the league-wide top scorers list. The Viennese’s top scorer remains captain Linden Vey, who after his assist yesterday has 31 points (8 goals + 23 assists) in as many appearances. Souch is now his compatriot’s first pursuer with 23 points (14 goals + 9 assists).
With yesterday’s win, the Caps moved up to eighth place in the table with 42 points. The Viennese are tied on points with seventh-placed VSV and ninth-placed Hydro Fehérvár AV19. The Steinbach Black Wings Linz and FTC-Telekom, which are placed behind them, are only one point behind. The fight for the top ten is therefore quite competitive, but the Viennese’s form curve is clearly pointing upwards. The Caps have won six times in the last nine games. In the last ten games, the capital city team collected 17 points, which puts them in fifth place in the form table. There are no changes in personnel compared to yesterday’s 3-2 win against Ljubljana. Jérémy Grégoire, Senna Peeters, Marco Richter and Sebastian Wraneschitz are out injured.
The master from the city of Mozart is without a doubt the team of the hour. The series champion, who stumbled uncharacteristically at times during the regular round, recently celebrated nine wins in a row. However, only one of these successes came against a team that is currently in the top six. Salzburg shot up to third place in the table. Head coach Manny Viveiros’ team is doing brilliantly in the home ice arena. Salzburg won 12 of their 17 home games and collected 34 points in these. That results in third place in the home table.
All three previous regular season duels between the Viennese and the Salzburg teams went to the Mozartstadt team. Every encounter was fiercely contested. In mid-September the champions won 3-1 in Vienna. On October 10th, the Caps took the lead three times in Salzburg, but lost 3-4 after overtime. In the last meeting so far on December 7th, the Caps gave up a 2-0 lead and lost 2-4 – the start of Salzburg’s winning streak. The date of today’s meeting could represent a good omen. The Capitals were also guests in Salzburg on January 3rd in 2025. The Viennese celebrated a 4-1 win. While the Salzburg power play is the third worst in the win2day ICE Hockey League with a success rate of 14.71 percent, the Vienna power play ranks second with an efficiency of 24.44 percent. However, Salzburg goalie David Kickert is at the top of the league. The goalkeeper, who trained at the Vienna Capitals, only conceded 18 goals in 14 appearances. His catch rate of 94.96 percent is the best of all goalkeepers who have played more than one game.
Statement Carter Souch, attacker of the Vienna Capitals
This is only my first year in the league, but we know that Salzburg is one of the top teams. They have become champions four times in a row. When you play against a team like that, it’s fun. You can also see what your team is made of. Tomorrow we have to perform in a similar way to yesterday against Ljubljana. This requires full commitment from each individual. We have to block shots, drive checks and perform in the right way. All of our games against Salzburg were super close. It’s been a while since the last duel. We have played better in the last few weeks than before. So it will be an interesting test for us.
vienna-capitals.at , Image: EC Red Bull Salzburg
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