Champion Salzburg and Bozen both clinched home wins in the ICE Hockey League at the start of the semifinals on Friday. The defending champions showed no weaknesses against KAC in a 5-1 win and extended their play-off run to 17 wins in a row. The South Tyroleans defeated the Vienna Capitals 2-1 after extra time. The second games of the “best of seven” series will take place on Sunday in Klagenfurt and Vienna.
Salzburg, coming out of a ten-day break due to their sweep against Fehervar, soon took over after an ambitious KAC start and never gave up. Scorer Peter Schneider’s 1-0 in the 16th minute was well deserved thanks to several great chances. In the middle section, Troy Bourke (26th) and Benjamin Nissner (30th / PP) followed up for the game-dominant Bulls in front of 3,200 spectators. KAC only gained momentum in the closing stages of the period, but Salzburg goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen could not be beaten. At the other end, Sebastian Dahm had to get behind him for the fourth time shortly after the start of the final period, Peter Hochkofler (42′) score in excess. The third power play goal in a row to make it 5-0 came from Paul Huber (46′) on the power play. Lukas Haudum (52nd) also scored a consolation goal for Klagenfurt with a man more on the ice. Short lead for the Caps In Bozen, it took half an hour in a game that was initially cautiously led by both teams before Nikolaus Hartl made it 1-0 for the Capitals met. The lead of the Viennese didn’t last long, Brad McClure equalized in the 34th minute for the winner of the regular season against Linz on Tuesday. It was 1-1 in front of 4,600 eyewitnesses in the last third, in which the Caps celebrated a goal by Jeremy Gregoire in the final phase. The supposed 2:1 was not given due to a goalkeeper disability. The score remained 1-1 until the end of regular time. In overtime, the Bolzano team had the better end of the game, as against Linz, Dustin Gazley (64th) became the match winner.
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