Overtime victory! Bolzano's magicians deliver the Lucky Punch

After a furious start to the game, HC Bozen, which was equipped with exceptional players but was again without ideas for long periods, was destroyed by the Bratislava Capitals for almost an hour, but then delivered the final blow in overtime to make it 2-1. It was Mike Halmo and Brett Findlay who, with their strokes of genius, secured the title contenders their first lead in the quarter-final series.

The game got going before the puck had touched the ice for the first time. Daniel Frank had to go to the penalty box with a double minor after a slight headbutt at the faceoff circle, and just a few seconds later Bratislava's Brock Higgs was sent down for two minutes. In the ensuing majority, Dustin Gazley put the disc into the visitors' goal for the first time, but his goal was disallowed due to goalkeeper interference. At this point, only a minute and a half had been played. Just one more turn of the hand later, Mike Halmo capped the turbulent initial phase: The Canadian grabbed the puck in his own third, shook off two opponents, let another one escape elegantly and placed a grenade under the crossbar at full speed - 1-0!

In this scene, Mike Halmo leaves his opponent standing, and a split second later the puck fidgets in the net. © V. Antonello

After Bozen's opening goal, the game came into balance, with both teams ensuring real playoff ice hockey with high speed and full physical effort. The flow of the game – at least on the Foxes’ side – abruptly stopped in the 28th. It was the moment when Anthony Bardaro carelessly lost the puck in front of his own goal and Sergei Kostsitsyn literally set up the equalizer. The Belarusian, who played 393 NHL games for Montreal and Nashville, didn't need to be asked twice and finished 1-1.

From then on, star coach Peter Draisaitl's men once again tightened their defensive bar, which was almost impossible to overcome, and let the delicate HCB technicians bounce off the ball again and again with their body power. Although Bolzano gained some momentum in the third period thanks to three power play situations, the situation remained the same: by the end of regular time, only one of Bolzano's 40 shots went over the line. The result? A 20-minute break and off to overtime! Findlay redeems the HCB There the Foxes suddenly presented themselves with incredible bite, never letting their opponents cross the halfway line for five minutes and finally crowning their final phase of pressure with the sudden-death goal. Brett Findlay, who was left lying on the ice for a long time in the third period after a nasty collision, became the winning goal scorer. The Bolzano playmaker danced his way through the Slovakian third, letting one opponent out after the other and making it 2-1. The White-Reds' celebration knew no bounds.

Now it is important for both teams to fill their energy reserves after this strenuous act, because game 3 also showed that the series between the HCB and the Capitals is still good for several exciting duels - starting with the South Tyroleans' away game on Friday in Bratislava (20.30 p.m /in the SportNews -result sticker).

HCB Südtirol Alperia – iClinik Bratislava Capitals 2:1 aet HSBC: Irving (Fazio); Robertson-Youds, Pietroniro-Plastino, Fournier-Tauferer; Halmo-Catenacci-Bardaro, Frank-Findlay-Gazley, Frigo-Bernard-Miceli, Giliati-Alberga-Insam, Pitschieler, Deluca Coach: Ireland

Bratislava: Coreau (Baros); Guimond-Carson, Bohunicky-Chovan, Culkin-Durkech, Kover; Ahl-Hults-Fortier, Kostsitsyn-Higgs-Miklik, Bubela-Buc-Hudec, Faith-Bezak-Smida Coach: Draisaitl

Gates: 1:0 Mike Halmo (2.52), 1:1 Sergei Kostsitsyn (27.21), 2:1 Brett Findlay (64.50)

Standings in the best-of-7 series: 2:1 The other quarter-final duels: Klagenfurt - Villach 3:2 Goals: 0:1 Pollastrone (0.27), 1:1 Fraser (12.23), 1:2 Gill (22.41), 2:2 Ticar (24.45), 3:2 Fraser (53.47) Series: 2:1

Salbzurg - Dornbirn 4:1 Goals: 1:0 Espeland (8.34), 2:0 Varejcka (24.30), 3:0 Raffl (27.52), 3:1 Pavlovs (32.52), 4:1 Rauchwald (47.22) Series: 1:2

Vienna - Fehervar 1:0 Goals: 1:0 Nissner (23.03) Series: 3:0

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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Overtime victory! Bolzano's magicians deliver the Lucky Punch

Two brilliant picture-perfect goals brought HCB Südtirol Alperia a little closer to the ICE semi-finals. But Game 3 between the Foxes and the Bratislava Capitals also showed: This series is absolutely tough!

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