Klagenfurt dominated the first third against the guests from Salzburg and were then rewarded for their superiority in the 16th minute by Samuel Witting. Lukas Haudum narrowly missed making it 2-0 on the power play just before the first break. Out of nowhere, Troy Wayne Bourke equalized in the 23rd minute, putting a Dennis Eamon Robertson shot from the air into the Vienna goalkeeper.
The turnaround came in the 31st minute when Paul Huber scored in the near corner with a majority. Whilst Manuel Ganahl almost equalized in the 38th minute with KAC twice a man down, Peter Schneider increased the score to 3-1 for the “Red Bulls” almost immediately. In the final third, the guests could not be dissuaded from the winning course, but no more goals were scored. The closest came Schneider, who shot the puck just past the red jackets’ empty net in the 59th minute.
Caps lost
In Vienna, the duel with HCB Südtirol began with a shock for the Capitals: After just 31 seconds, Christian Thomas put the guests 1-0 up. After that, the Viennese pressed for the equalizer for a while, but Brad McClure scored twice at the end of the first period (17th) and at the beginning of the second period (22nd) for the decisive 3-0 lead for the South Tyroleans.
Nevertheless, it got exciting again. Goals from Chad Krys (43rd) and James Sheppard (51st) to make it 2-3 gave the Caps fans hope. But in the 54th minute, Daniel Mantenuto had a free shot and didn’t give Capitals goalie Bernhard Starkbaum a chance. Starkbaum went off the ice in the 57th minute, and the result was an empty net from Dustin Gazley to give the Italians a 5-2 win.
This means that Salzburg (4:30 p.m.) and Bozen (6:00 p.m.) can finish the “best of seven” series after just five games in front of their own audience on Sunday.
Win2day ICE Hockey League, semi-finals, fourth day of play
Freitag:
KAC – Salzburg 1:3
(1:0 0:3 0:0)
Goals: Witting (16′) or Bourke (23′), Huber (31’/PP), Schneider (49’/PP)
Penalty minutes: 10 or 12
Stand in der „Best of seven“-Serie: 1:3
Vienna – Bolzano 2:5
(0:2 0:1 2:2)
Goals: Krys (43.), Sheppard (51.) or Thomas (1st), McClure (17th, 22nd), Mantenuto (44th), Gazley (57th/EN)
Penalty minutes: 2 or 6
Stand in der „Best of seven“-Serie: 1:3