Continental Cup: Bolzano is in the Final Four

Bolzano coach Brian McCutcheon confirmed the team from the previous day, with Pergine loan player Pontus Moren in the third block in place of the injured Christian Walcher. The Russians, however, were without Sergey Salmikov, who was still in the squad against Herning on Saturday. Bozen started very offensively and had their first good opportunity with MacGregor Sharp after just a few seconds. In the 5th minute, Mark McCutcheon dangerously deflected a long-range shot from Alexander Egger, but guest goalkeeper Vladimir Sokhatskii was careful. Seven minutes later he also fended off a shot from Markus Gander. In the 13th minute, Neftekamsk had their first good chance to score: Artem Gareev took advantage of Tomas Duba's uncertainty behind the goal, but the Bolzano goalkeeper made up for his mistake with a brilliant save. In the 15.07 minute, the White-Reds took the lead with a hammer shot from Marco Insam that went straight into the corner.

In the middle third Neftekamsk pressed for the equalizer. In the 22.45 minute, Tomas Duba had to surpass himself when he blocked a shot from Vitaly Kamenev. Then Oberdörfer and Borgatello had to go to the penalty box almost at the same time and the Russians were able to play with a double majority for a full 83 seconds. Bozen wobbled but didn't fall over. When the pressure finally eased a little, the Russians surprisingly equalized. Sergey Sentyurin gave Tomas Duba no chance to defend with a precise diagonal shot and scored 32.07-1 in the 1 minute. Shortly before the second break, Bozen, with two more players on the ice, had a great chance to take the lead again, but Vladimir Sokhatskii stood out on MacGregor Sharp.

In the final third the spaces became narrower and both teams secured their defense. A wonderful individual performance from NHL star Niklas Hjalmarsson almost put the team in Bolzano into the lead. In the 52.51 minute it was the Russians who made it 2-1 with Vitaly Kamenev. Bozne didn't give up and made it 2-2 three minutes before the final siren with Markus Gander, who was played brilliantly by Anton Bernard. So the encounter had to go into extra time.

This was hard to beat in terms of excitement. 24 seconds before the end of the game, Niklas Hjalmarsson showed his full class, playing a wonderful pass to Mark McCutcheon, who just had to push it in. Bolzano won 3-2 and is back in the final four of the Continental Cup after 2009 in Rouen.

HC Bozen - Toros Neftekamsk 3:2 aet (1:0, 0:1, 1:1, 1:0) HC Bolzano: Tomas Duba (Günther Hell); Alexander Egger, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Christian Borgatello, Andrea Ambrosi, Hannes Oberdörfer, Troy Barnes, Daniel Fabris; Mark McCutcheon, MacGregor Sharp, Ryan Flynn, Anton Bernard, Markus Gander, Marco Insam, Enrico Dorigatti, Stefan Zisser, Pontus Moren, Peter Wunderer, Federico Gilmozzi, Christian Walcher? Coach: Brian McCutcheon

Toros Neftekamsk: Vladimir Sokhatskii (Aleksandr Agopeev); Ildar Isangulov, Pavel Doronin, Nikita Tsirulev, Ilya Susloparov, Artem Zubarev, Alexsey Vasilevskliy; Kostantin Bogdanovsky, Sergey Sentyurin, Anatoly Stepanov, Maxim Florov, Artem Gordeev, Vladimir Zhmaev, Evgeny Vakhrushev, Valdimir Karpov, Ivan Guliaev, Egor Dubrovskiy, Artem Gareev, Vitaly Kamenev Coach: Ruslan Suleymanov

Referee: Bergamelli, Minar (Lazzeri, Mori)

Gates: 1:0 Marco Insam (15.07), 1:1 Sergey Sentyurin (32.07), 1:2 Vitaly Kamenev (52.51), 2:2 Markus Gander (56.59), 3:2 Mark McCutcheon (64.36)

The voices about the game:

Ruslan Suleymanov (coach Toros Neftekamsk): “I can’t blame my players, they gave everything. But Bolzano has proven to be an excellent opponent. We had the game in hand, but unfortunately we didn’t have the luck that you need in the most important moments.”

Brian McCutcheon (Coach HC Bozen): “We have an exceptional group. Our goal was to reach the final, so we specifically prepared for the semi-finals. We fought for this victory with our hearts, character and incredible willpower. I don’t know what to expect from the finals, but if I remember the Stanley Cup Finals, I’m going to have fun.”

Alexander Egger (captain of HC Bozen): “We are very tired, but of course overjoyed about this success. I have to compliment my team. When it comes down to it, we're always there. It's a great win, the crowd was outstanding and compliments to the entire organization. Everything was perfect."

The table of Group D 1. HC Bozen 8 points (8:4) 2. Toros Neftekamsk 7 (7:5) 3. Herning Blue Fox 3 (7:6) 4. Landshut Cannibals 0 (1:8)

Program Continental Cup (Group D, November 23-25 - Eiswelle Bozen)

Fri. 23 November Toros Neftekamsk - Landshut Cannibals 2:1 HC Bozen Foxes - Herning Blue Fox 3:2

Sat. 24 November Herning Blue Fox - Toros Neftekamsk 1:3 HC Bozen Foxes - Landshut Cannibals 2:0

Sun. 25 November Herning Blue Fox - Landshut Cannibals 4:0 HC Bozen Foxes - Neftekamsks Toros 3:2 aet

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Continental Cup: Bolzano is in the Final Four

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