The Foxes also win the third final against the Wolves

At Pustertal, coach Kivelä sent Ryan Watson to the stands as a surplus foreigner and gave preference to Olivier Magnan, while Willleit was out of action due to intestinal problems. Bolzano had to set up Josh Meyers while Derek Edwardson was set up.

In the overflowing Leiter Solar Arena in Bruneck, things really got going from the first second. First, David Ling forced Bolzano goalkeeper Zaba into a brilliant save twice before Matt Kelly tested the Foxes' goalie. On the other side, Strömberg was at the post with the leg pads after a Harjula shot before Knackstedt failed to put the rebound in the goal after he had already let an opponent get out. Even after that, the rhythm remained high and the home team had the first power play of the evening (Ambrosi was in the penalty box), but were unable to capitalize on it. As soon as the Foxes were full again, Enrico Dorigatti tested the Puster goalkeeper Strömberg with a shot, which he was able to fend off. After that the game flattened out a little: Pustertal controlled the puck, but the Bolzano defense stood firm. Two power play situations on both sides also remained unused. Then, 31 seconds before the first siren, the visitors' lead fell out of the blue. Giliati ignited the turbo on the left side, placed the disc in the middle, where Knackstedt took off directly. It was the 23th play-off goal for the 10-year-old Canadian. With this narrow lead for the white and red we went into the locker room.

Great ice hockey was also celebrated in the second third. Scandella was unlucky after less than two minutes when he hit the puck on the top corner. Shortly afterwards, Joe Jensen, outnumbered, stormed towards the goal guarded by Zaba, but Borgatello was just able to intercept him. The action continued and the Talferstadters' infamous first block struck on the other side. Knackstedt put the disc from the right side in the middle to MacGregor Sharp, who didn't have to be asked twice. 2-0 for the guests after 26.06:28.49 minutes. The second goal did not shock the home team at all, on the contrary. Now the Pusterers played even more enthusiastically and in the 2 minute they were also able to celebrate after they had opened a real storm on Zaba. Of all people, it was Olivier Magnan who gave the almost indomitable goalie from Bolzano a miss and used the third rebound after shots from Crepaz and Tauber. But then the usual picture again. The Puster attackers stormed the Bolzano goal, but in the end Zaba was always the winner. Jensen, Kelly, Bona, Scandella and Cullen were already celebrating the goal. The last chance then belonged to the guests, who were largely pale in the second third. It was Knackstedt who forced Strömberg to do a great deed. With the White-Reds leading 1-XNUMX, we went into the locker room.

The third period of the game was initially very even before Pustertal took the reins again. After the Wolves were able to operate with one more man on the ice, Zaba's goal rang. This time it was Oberrauch who gave the Bolzano goalkeeper the disadvantage with a powerful shot. After the equalizer, Bozen played with one man more twice (ten seconds even five against three), but Harjula and McCutcheon were unable to capitalize on their chances. In the 50th minute of the game, Knackstedt could have given the guests the lead, but the post prevented him from scoring when he was outnumbered. After that the game remained quick, but nothing significant came of it. So it went into overtime.

The Wolves were the dominant team there too, but Oberrauch and Co. kept biting their teeth against the very defensive Bozen team. To make matters worse, Magnan had to leave the ice with a time penalty in the 70th minute after a body check and now the guests struck ice cold. Giliati scored after wonderful preparatory work from Knackstedt and gave the people of Bolzano the much celebrated victory (69.58). Incidentally, it was the White-Reds' eleventh success in the play-offs in a row. This means that the Insam team is still undefeated in the knockout round.

Wolves Fiat Professional Pustertal - HC Bozen 2:3 aet(0:1, 1:1, 1:0, 0:1) Wolves Fiat Professional Pustertal: Mikko Stromberg (Hannes Hopfgartner); Matt Kelly, Christian Willeit, Armin Helfer, Armin Hofer, Fredrik Persson, Olivier Magnan, Christian Mair; Giulio Scandella, David Ling, Max Oberrauch, Joseph Cullen, Joe Jensen, Lukas Tauber, Patrick Bona, Nate Di Casmirro, Thomas Erlacher, Lukas Crepaz, Viktor Schweizer Coach: Teppo Kivelä

HC Bolzano: Matt Zaba (Guenther Hell); Brandon Rogers, Alexander Egger, Christian Borgatello, Andrea Ambrosi, Daniel Fabris; Stefano Giliati, Jordan Knackstedt, Mac Gregor Sharp, Marco Insam, Anton Bernard, Mark McCutcheon, Christian Walcher, Stefan Zisser, Tuomo Harjula, Enrico Dorigatti, Federico Demetz, Derek Edwardson Coach: Adolf Insam

Referee: Claudio Pianezze and Thomas Gasser (Fabrizio DeToni and David Tschirner)

Gates: 0:1 Jordan Knackstedt (19.29), 0:2 MacGregor Sharp (26.06), 1:2 Olivier Magnan (28.49), 2:2 Max Oberrauch (43.24), 2:3 Stefano Giliati (69.58)

Penalty minutes: Pustertal14 - Bolzano 12

Shots on goal: Pustertal36 - Bolzano 33

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The Foxes also win the third final against the Wolves

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