Foxes take the first step towards the final

HC Bozen beat the Vienna Capitals 2-1 on Sunday evening. At the end of a game in which both teams pushed themselves to the absolute limit, but were by no means flawless, the Ireland team had more than just reason to celebrate: Bolzano's top scorer Dustin Gazley was taken out of the game with a knee check in the first third . A longer absence by the Canadian would significantly weaken the Foxes in the title race and especially in this semi-final series, which, as can be expected from the game, is still exhausting.

The start of the best-of-seven series for HC Bozen went like clockwork. Less than two minutes had been played when Anton Bernard took advantage of a gaping hole in the Vienna backline, stormed straight towards the goal and placed the disc into the corner of the cross. The Caps acted extremely aggressively and tried to keep Bozen away from their own goal, but at the same time the Foxes, who were missing Ivan Tauferer, Karl Stollery and Domenic Alberga due to injuries, repeatedly had good chances. Gazley gets hit hard in the knee Mario Fischer stopped one of these opportunities with a clear but unpunished knee check on Dustin Gazley, who had advanced quickly into the attacking third. The South Tyrolean top scorer had to be limped to the bench and later accompanied to the dressing room. His work was over after just 18 minutes.

Leland Irving closed the gap at the back with some acrobatic performances. © VANNA ANTONELLO

After the break, Bozen only managed to cause sporadic danger with a changed lineup, but Vienna became more and more dominant. The result? The 1:1 by Benjamin Nissner (25th). Patrick Kittinger failed at the side netting, but somehow got the disc into the slot and there Nissner made a direct pass. The Foxes' reaction was initially a long time coming, but came with even greater vehemence immediately after the break - in the person of Dennis Robertson. The HCB defender, who was once again extremely strong both defensively and offensively, grabbed the puck on the halfway line in the power play, tunneled through opponent Steve Johnson and smashed the rubber into the net to make it 2-1. A dream goal! Irving holds on for the win With the renewed leadership behind them, the HCB acted much more stable. While Vienna now hardly had any clear chances to score, Stefano Giliati almost made it 3-1 in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Bernhard Starkbaum, but he put the puck just past the post. After that, there were still twelve minutes left in which Bozen appeared very calm and once again missed the third goal through Bernard. After excellent preparatory work by Daniel Frank, the captain failed alone in front of Starkbaum. His Bolzano counterpart, Leland Irving, only had to intervene several times in the final phase, but then did so in a spectacular way. The goalie secured the victory with an acrobatic save against William Besse in the six-on-five final minute.

After the hard-fought 2-1 win by HC Bozen at the start in the Eiswelle, the semi-final series now moves to the Austrian capital, where on Tuesday (from 19.30 p.m. in SportNews -Result ticker) the second duel increases. In the second semi-final on Sunday, the KAC took the first step towards the finals with a 4-2 home win against Salzburg. HCB Südtirol Alperia – Spusu Vienna Capitals 2:1 HSBC: Irving (Fazio); Robertson-Youds, Pietroniro-Plastino, Fournier-Di Perna; Halmo-Catenacci-Giliati, Frank-Findlay-Gazley, Frigo-Bernard-Miceli, Deluca-Bardaro-Insam Coach: Ireland

Caps: Starkbaum (Wraneschitz); Wall-Lakos, Johnson-Peter, Hackl-Fischer, Piff-Preiser; Besse-Nissner-Loney, Archibald-Wukovits-Hartl, Bauer-Vause-Rotter, Richter-Großlercher-Kittinger Coach: Cameron

Gates: 1:0 Anton Bernard (1.46), 1:1 Benjamin Nissner (24.04), 2:1 Dennis Robertson (42.13)

Standings in the best-of-7 series: 1:0 The 2nd semi-final pairing: Klagenfurter AC – Red Bull Salzburg 4-2

Gates: 1:0 Matt Fraser (12.45), 2:0 Blaz Gregorc (21.39), 2:1 David McIntyre (21.58), 2:2 Jack Skille (22.59), 3:2 Nick Petersen (27.09), 4:2 Johannes Bischofberger (39.20)

Standings in the best-of-7 series: 1:0

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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Foxes take the first step towards the final

In a hard-fought semi-final opener, HCB Südtirol Alperia defeated the Vienna Capitals with a lot of effort. However, the people of Bolzano could pay dearly for the victory.

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