At the start of the quarter-final series of the ICE Hockey League, the Vienna Capitals celebrated an away win that may be eminently important for progress with a 6:4 win at the Innsbrucker Haie! Defending champion Red Bull Salzburg won at home against Fehervar 3:2 and regular season winner HCB Südtirol started with a 2:0 home win against Black Wings Linz. The second games of the series are scheduled for Friday.
The Vienna Capitals played the third of the day in Innsbruck. By the 49th minute, the Viennese were 2:4 behind in third place in the regular season, but then four Caps hits followed within 10:06 minutes. Maxwell Zimmer was mainly responsible for the success with three goals, including the equalizer to make it 4:4 (57th). Then Matt Bradley (58th) and Radek Prokes scored into the empty goal (59th). “This is a group of players who believe they can win games and series right up to the last second,” said Caps coach Dave Barr. Salzburg didn’t have it quite as easy as they had hoped. Lucas Thaler opened the scoring (13′), after the interim equalizer (27′), Peter Schneider (32′) and Chay Genoway (42′) ensured what appeared to be a preliminary decision. Anze Kuralt was responsible for the last ten minutes (50th) with another goal. In South Tyrol Cole Hults decided the game almost single-handedly, he scored in the 14th and 39th minute. The second games of the “Best Of Seven” duels are played with swapped home rights.
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