The champions have the quarter-final ticket in their pocket

HC Bozen will once again be fighting for the best possible starting position for the playoff quarter-finals in the Master Round this season. The decisive factor for the early entry into the round of the top six was an enormous show of strength in the final third, which gave the title holders a 4-3 win against seventh-placed Linz.

Two days after the convincing home win against leaders Vienna, HCB coach Kai Suikkanen left his lines unchanged. While Viktor Schweitzer and Massimo Carozza had to watch, Daniel Frank alternated with Luca Frigo and Angelo Miceli in the fourth offensive block.

Blunden again and again After a first third in which both teams tried to keep a high tempo but failed to achieve much in front of the opponent's goal, the Foxes struck immediately after the restart: Mike Blunden reacted quickest after a poke and lifted the puck under the crossbar. The recovered former NHL striker scored four of the last six HCB goals. However, the lead didn't last long, as Andreas Kristler literally scored the equalizer in return. Linzer, who was left criminally alone in front of the goal, was able to choose the corner at his leisure and ultimately decided on the top left. Leland Irving had no chance to defend from this short distance.

Halfway through the game, the Bolzano goalie had to fall behind again when Bryan Lebler deflected a Kapstad shot in the power play. Suddenly the Foxes were behind. They responded with rolling attacks, but not much came out of it at first. Alex Petan had the best chance, but he missed the post after a fine solo effort. 3 Bolzano hits in 150 seconds At the beginning of the final third, Anton Bernard finally broke the goal spell. The HCB captain did this in his now typical way: with a placed backhander into the far corner. Now the game was really on fire - and the champions could hardly be held back! Immediately after Bernard's equalizer, two Linz players had to go into the "cool box", and Tim Campbell took advantage of the space that was available to hammer the goal home. But that wasn't enough: 18 seconds later Alex Petan scored to make it 4-2.

As dominant as the master appeared, things got really tricky towards the end. That was because the Black Wings now threw everything forward and reduced the score to 3:4 with Bracken Kearns six minutes before the end. With an outstanding Irving in the box and combined forces in defense, the South Tyroleans withstood the vehement attacks of the Stahlstadters until the end. The inglorious finale was ensured by Michael Davies from Linz, who was particularly visible in a wild brawl and had to go to the shower with a game-time disciplinary penalty. Afterwards, the playoff qualification was celebrated in the ice wave, but Linz, in seventh place, has to tremble more than ever. HCB Südtirol Alperia – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 4:3 (0:0, 1:2, 3:1) HSBC: Irving (Smith); Nordlund-Marchetti, Geiger-Campbell, Glira-MacKenzie; Catenacci-Findlay-Blunden, Brace-Crescenzi-Petan, Deluca-Kuparinen-Insam, Frigo-Bernard-Miceli, Frank, Schweitzer Coach: Suikkanen

Linz: Ouzas (Kickert); Brocklehurst-Carle, Kapstad-Rutkowski, Kragl-D'Aversa, Matzka, Lebler-Schofield-Umicevic, Davies-Locke-DaSilva, Kristler-Kearns-Gaffal, Koudelka-Brucker-Ober Coach: Rowe

Gates: 1:0 Mike Blunden (20.41), 1:1 Andreas Kristler (21.36), 1:2 Bryan Lebler (28.57), 2:2 Anton Bernard (41.59), 3:2 Tim Campbell (44.08), 4:2 Alex Petan (44.29), 4:3 Bracken Kearns (53.46)

Viewers: 3.485 The other results from Sunday: Graz - Fehervar 4:3 nP Goals: 0:1 Sofron (7.34), 1:1 Garbowsky (16.25), 1:2 Sarpatki (22.13), 1:3 Szabo (29.54), 2:3 Setzinger (49.07), 3:3 Caito (52.27), 4:3 Weihager (decisive penalty) Audience: 2.902

Salzburg - Villach 4:3 aet Goals: 0:1 Wolf (12.14), 0:2 Kromp (13.18), 1:2 Heinrich (33.51), 2:2 Stajnoch (50.26), 2:3 Pollastrone (53.18), 3:3 Hubjer (58.29), 4:3 Herburger (61.39) Audience: 2.982

Klagenfurt - Znojmo 5-0 Goals: 1:0 Neal (23.12), 2:0 Bischofberger (28.04), 3:0 Neal (50.50), 4:0 Kraus (53.19), 5:0 Liivik (55.48) Audience: 4.074

Dornbirn - Vienna 2:9 Goals: 0:1 Nissner (1.42), 0:2 Nödl (2.19), 0:3 Tessier (4.45), 0:4 Schneider (18.11), 1:4 Trotter (29.58), 1:5 Olden (33.26), 1:6 Nissner (36.32), 2:6 Häußle (47.20), 2:7 Olden (51.28), 2:8 DeSousa (54.11), 2:9 (56.46) Audience: 2.180 The table: SP G U V TV P 1. Vienna Capitals 42 28 0 14 155:111 84 2. Graz99ers 42 29 0 13 159:110 82 3. Klagenfurt 42 27 0 15 141:93 78 4. HCB South Tyrol 42 24 0 18 126:97 76 5. Salzburg 41 24 0 17 163:114 73 6. Fehervar 42 23 0 19 155:144 68 7. Linz 42 21 0 21 132:125 66 8. Dornbirn 42 19 0 23 129:139 60 9. Innsbruck 42 21 0 21 145:157 58 10. Znojmo 42 18 0 24 148:159 56 11. Villach 42 11 0 31 101:152 31 12. KHL Zagreb 41 6 0 35 74:227 21

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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The champions have the quarter-final ticket in their pocket

No playoff without the Foxes! The HCB Südtirol Alperia will also be entering the “fifth season” in the sixth year of its EBEL membership. The White-Reds defeated the Black Wings Linz in front of 3.500 enthusiastic spectators and secured their place in the knockout round early.

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