The “bad boys” from Graz let the champions play

The HCB cracks spent 20 minutes in the cooler, those of the 99ers a whopping 28 minutes. But the only two decisive power play goals of the evening were scored by the “bad boys” from Styria. So the story is quickly told: Intermediate round leaders Graz defeated HC Bozen, who still had no points, away from home with a score of 4:2.

Mike Blunden as the main actor The 99ers got off to a lightning start in front of 2.600 spectators and took a 45-1 lead after just 0 seconds. HCB goalie Leland Irving directed a shot from Curtis Hamilton to his teammate Dominik Grafenthin, who pushed the puck over the line unhindered. Afterwards, HC Bozen, in which all 21 field players were used in rotation, was allowed to play in the majority twice, but did not achieve anything noteworthy. That changed later in the four-on-four when Anton Bernard hit the top corner with one of his inimitable backhanders. Shortly afterwards, Mike Blunden caused thunderous applause in the stands, not because he did the same as Bernard, but because he brought Kevin Moderer to the ground in a boxing match with just a few punches. Riley Brace (middle) and the HCB left no stone unturned against the 99ers.

From then on, a fast-paced game developed, although the pace was repeatedly slowed by minor scuffles and referee interruptions. Matt Caito (Graz) and Andrew Crescenzi (Bozen) missed the biggest chances before Blunden appeared again and swept the spectators off their seats with his classy play. After Markus Nordlund had moved up, he reacted quickly and pushed the disc into the goal to give the HCB the lead for the first time. But this only lasted three minutes, then Hamilton, who was left criminally alone, made it 2-2. Penalty killing costs points Immediately after the second break, the Foxes were caught off guard again: Irving couldn't get the ball under control and Caito poked it over the line to make it 3-2. After that, Bozen tried hard, but never found the right means to break Graz's defensive bar. On the contrary, four minutes before the end, 440-time NHL striker Dwight King lofted the puck over Irving's pad into the goal. As with Caito's previous goal, the Foxes were once again outnumbered. With the 4:2 the soup was served and the second HCB defeat in the second round was sealed. HCB Südtirol Alperia – Moser Medical Graz 99ers 2:4 (1:1, 2:2, 0:2) HSBC: Irving (Smith); Geiger-Campbell, Nordlund-Marchetti, Glira-MacKenzie; Catenacci-Findlay-Blunden, Frigo-Bernard-Miceli, Brace-Crescenzi-Petan, Deluca-Carozza-Insam Coach: Suikkanen

Graz: Rahm (Kastner); Jakobsson-Caito, Johansson-Weihager, Kirchschläger-Egger; Hamilton-Garbowsky-Ograjensek, Oberkofler-Oleksuk-Grafenthin, King-Yellow Horn-Loney, Kainz-Moderer-Zusevics Coach: Mason

Gates: 0:1 Dominik Grafenthin (0.45), 1:1 Anton Bernard (13.38), 2:1 Mike Blunden (34.17), 2:2 Curtis Hamilton (37.34), 2:3 Matt Caito (40.55), 2:4 Dwight King (55.45)

Viewers: 2.600 The other results from Friday: Placement round Fehervar - Klagenfurt 1:4 Goals: 0:1 Kozek (8.47), 1:1 Wishart (47.36), 1:2 Geier (52.31), 1:3 Wahl (53.35), 1:4 Bischofberger (59.40) Audience: 3.042

Salzburg - Vienna 2:3 nP Goals: 0:1 Nödl ( 9.29), 1:1 Regner (14.03), 1:2 Schneider (22.40), 2:2 Trattnig (33.48), 2:3 Schneider (decisive penalty) Audience: 2.512

qualifying round Innsbruck - Znojmo 3:7 Goals: 0:1 Hlava (10.17), 1:1 Yogan (14.16), 1:2 Mrazek (15.53), 1:3 Nemec (17.46), 2:3 Lammers (27.36), 2:4 McPherson (28.26), 2:5 Lattner (31.48), 3:5 Lavoie (41.20), 3:6 McPherson (53.39), 3:7 Tejnor (58.08) Audience: 1.800 The placement round table: SP G U V TV P 1. Graz99ers 2 2 0 0 9:5 12 2. Vienna Capitals 2 2 0 0 7:2 9 3. Klagenfurt 2 2 0 0 10:3 8 4. Salzburg 2 0 0 2 4:9 2 5. Fehervar 2 0 0 2 4:9 0 6. HCB South Tyrol 2 0 0 2 2:8 0

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 “bad boys” from Graz let the champions play

So the desired top 4 place won't work out: HCB Südtirol Alperia suffered their second defeat in the second pick-round game in the home game against league leaders Graz.

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