For the Black Wings, victory was within reach

2023-10-13 20:28:00

The winning streak of the Steinbach Black Wings in the ICE Hockey League is broken, after five successes en suite (5-0 penalty verification of the Graz game included), the Linzers had to defeat the reigning champion Red Bull Salzburg 3-4 (0-0, 1 :1, 2:2/0:0/0:1) after a penalty shootout. That’s not a big deal, but it’s still annoying, especially since the Upper Austrians were already leading 3-1.

It wasn’t a match for the faint-hearted, Troy Bourke saved the Mozartstadt team just 135 seconds before the siren with the goal to make it 3-3 (58th) in the goalless extra time. The decision was made in the shootout, which required a lot of patience. After 17 shooters failed in their attempts, Ryan Murphy overcame Linz goalie Rasmus Tirronen.

Nevertheless: Hats off to the Black Wings, who, with their strong performances in the last few weeks, cracked the targeted 3,000 mark and attracted 3,147 visitors to Linz despite the seemingly overwhelming football competition (at the same time, the European Championship qualifying hit Austria was playing against Belgium). -AG ice arena beckoned. Many will come back after what has been shown.

Philipp Lukas’ team appeared very disciplined and determined, which was really good. At least over long distances. The collective was convincing, the 1-0 by Niklas Bretschneider (35th) went to the fourth line of strikers, the 3-1 from Brodi Stuart (48th) to the fourth line. That’s what you want as a coach. It almost goes without saying that top scorer Graham Knott also made it 2-1 (45′). The only catch: Salzburg managed to hit back late. Lucas Thaler shortened the score to 2:3 (55′), the rest is known and today’s snow again.

“It’s about taking the next step,” says defender Niklas Würschl, who will face his former employer, the Vienna Capitals, in Kagran on Sunday (4:30 p.m., live ticker on nachrichten.at). The Viennese suffered their fifth defeat in a row with a 3-1 defeat against leaders Pustertal.