The wolves demand everything from the star ensemble

Surprise team against the reigning champions, a perfectly functioning collective against a star ensemble, David against Goliath: In Salzburg on Tuesday evening there was a game in which two teams full of opposites met, but which are united by one fact: they are brimming with strength in this early phase of the season just full of self-confidence. The fans saw a correspondingly impressive game: In this one, the home team had clear field advantages, but the South Tyroleans held up against it with commitment, will and a great willingness to make sacrifices. The bottom line is that the home team's 2-1 win was deserved.

Both coaches suffered a setback before the start of the game: HCP coach Tomek Valtonen competed without Rick Schofield, who was injured in the match against Olimpija Ljubljana. Salzburg trainer Oliver David, however, had to do without his star purchase Ryan Murphy in defense. But because the Bulls have an extremely high squad density, his absence had little effect. Schofield, however, was sorely missed in both the offensive and defensive zones. A longer absence for the Canadian, which it doesn't look like at the moment, could have serious consequences for the HCP.

Thomas Raffl lurks in front of the HCP goal. © Gepa/RedBull

The player who earned Man of the Match honors that night was undoubtedly goalkeeper Jacob Smith. The Italian-Canadian showed a simply outstanding performance after two games on the bench. His stick save against Peter Hochkofler in the final third will find its place in all season reviews. In total, Smith saved 39 shots – fantastic. But even he was powerless when the decisive goal came a minute and a half before the end. However, Valtonen's team can take a lot of positives with them from the next home game on Friday against the Graz 99ers (19.45 p.m.). The highlights Out of nowhere The Bulls are the dominant team in the first third, but are desperate for Smith. On the other side, Matthias Mantinger surprised goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen with a shot between the pads. The spell breaks After a long period of pressure, Thomas Raffl blocks Smith's view, Benjamin Nissner takes advantage and curls a wrist shot into the goal - it's a deserved 1-1. The big chance Shortly before the second siren, the Wolves suddenly come close to making it 2-1. In a 2-on-1 situation, Mikael Frycklund prefers to shoot himself. But his attempt is not placed enough. I beg your pardon?! Jacob Smith shows the save of the year: When Hochkofler falls, all he has to do is push it into the empty box, but the Italian-Canadian prevents a safe goal with his stick. How bitter With less than two minutes left, the Bulls strike: Nissner brings a puck into the middle, Catenacci loses sight of Peter Schneider, who scores freely in front of Smith. In addition to the HCP, South Tyrol's second division representative, HC Bozen, also had to admit defeat on Tuesday. The Foxes lost 4:5 in Feldkirch and now adorn the bottom of the table. Red Bull Salzburg – HC Pustertal 2-1 RBS: Tolvanen (Kickert); Genoway-Sinn, Robertson-Wimmer, Lewington-Stapfeld, Schreier; Thaler-Bourke-Baltram, Schneider-Nissner-Raffl, Huber-Wukovits-Hochkofler, Payerl-Auer-Huber. coach: David

HCP: Smith (Bernard); Stanton-Messner, Kasastul-Ege, Glira-Atwal, Althuber; Hannoun-Catenacci-Petan, Morley-Frycklund-Akeson, Andergassen-Sill-Mantinger, Deluca-Gschliesser-Öhler. coach: Valtonen

Gates: 0:1 Mantinger (12.48), 1:1 Nissner (25.18), 2:1 Schneider (58.16)

Viewers: 1160

The other Tuesday results Pioneers Vorarlberg – HC Bozen 5:4 (click here for the report) Goals: 1:0 Owre (7.55), 1:1 Frigo (24.59), 1:2 Halmo (30.13), 2:2 Owre (33.07), 3:2 Owre (35.22), 3:3 Halmo (44.42), 4:3 Owre (45.24), 4:4 Miceli (48.19), 5:4 Kirichenko (51.16) Audience: 1314

EC KAC – Vienna Capitals 5:2 Goals: 0:1 Wallner (1.44), 0:2 Piff (7.05), 1:2 Postma (10.15), 2:2 Fraser (18.33), 3:2 Hundredpound (21.29), 4:2 Hundredpound (31.18), 5:2 Haudum (58.40) Audience: 3484

Villacher SV – AV Fehervar 1:2 Goals: 0:1 Laberge (30.34), 1:1 Hancock (47.15), 1:2 Magosi (51.01) Audience: 2568

HC Innsbruck – Black Wings Linz 2:3 aet Goals: 0:1 Romig (00.42), 0:2 Knott (27.53), 1:2 Roy (36.36), 2:2 Winkler (54.12), 2:3 Würschl (61.49) Audience: 1800

Asiago Hockey – Graz 99ers 4:3 Goals: 1:0 Ierullo (4.37), 1:1 Viktsen (14.09), 2:1 Saracino (28.21), 2:2 Viktsen (31.34), 3:2 Finoro (49.52), 3:3 Antonitsch (50.13), 4:3 McShane (54.32) Spectators: 787

The table SP G U V TV P 1. EC Salzburg 7 6 0 1 25:13 18 2. HC Pustertal 8 6 0 2 28:18 17 3. Fehervar 8 6 0 2 27:19 17 4. EC Villach 8 5 0 3 26:18 15 5. Vorarlberg 8 5 0 3 28:22 15 6. Olimpija Ljubljana 7 4 0 3 17:18 12 7. HC Innsbruck 8 4 0 4 19:20 12 8. EC Klagenfurt 7 4 0 3 27:24 11 9. Vienna Capitals 6 3 0 3 22:25 9 10. Linz 7 3 0 4 19:23 8 11. Asiago Hockey 7 1 0 6 9:23 4 12. Graz99ers 7 0 0 7 12:24 3 13. HCB South Tyrol 8 1 0 7 12:24 3

	SP	TV	P
1. Ilves Tampere	6	24:7	18
2. KalPa Kuopio	6	24:8	17
3. Frölunda Gothenburg	6	21:11	15
4. Sparta Prague	6	18:9	14
5. Lukko Rauma	6	21:14	13
6. ERC Ingolstadt	6	23:15	12
View all

	SP	TV	P
1. EC Klagenfurt	43	153:103	91
2. Graz99ers	43	149:93	90
3. EC Salzburg	44	148:96	84
4. HCB South Tyrol	43	153:115	80
5. Olimpija Ljubljana	44	169:128	80
6. HC Pustertal	43	145:120	75
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The wolves demand everything from the star ensemble

This performance was masterful: Red Bull Salzburg showed in the top game against HC Pustertal on Tuesday why the reigning ICE champions are the team to beat this year too. Despite the defeat, the Wolves can travel home with their heads held high.

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