Shutout on the debut: Bernard and the HCB celebrate a fantastic victory

That was a cracking announcement from HC Bozen! The Foxes defeated the Vienna Capitals 3-0 away and are becoming increasingly lonely at the top of the table.

The two title candidates fought a pre-Christmas duel with a clear playoff character early on Sunday evening in Vienna/Kagran: Neither team wanted to pick up a prize for showmanship in the fourth meeting, but there was a crash on the boards, repeated hidden fouls and in The neutral zone built up a lot of steam over 4 minutes. In the end, the more well-rehearsed team, the more cohesive formation and the Foxes' irrepressible will won. However, three actors stood out from the extremely strong Bolzano team that evening. Lead role 1: Andreas Bernard The 30-year-old from Kalter concluded an unforgettable week with his first ICE game. Seven days ago the negotiations between him and the HCB had failed, but on Friday he was suddenly sitting on the team bus to Bratislava. In the hours before, he had to travel twice from his chosen place of residence in Finland to Helsinki for the corona test and flight to Vienna. In the Austrian capital he was finally picked up by the HCB entourage. A game against Bratislava on Saturday evening came too early, but he was able to show his full potential against the Vienna Capitals less than 24 hours later.

During the entire game, the goaltender only broke a sweat once when he lost the target to Ty Loney behind his goal. Otherwise, he exuded enormous calm and coolness - even though he had not played a competitive game since the spring. The shutout seems like a reward for a very difficult time in which Bernard endured months in Finland without a club and without prospects. Lead role 2: Brett Findlay It was he who turned the game around in the final third. After both teams were about to tear themselves apart due to their extremely tough style, Findlay suddenly seemed to want to say with several brilliant moves: That's enough! In the 47th minute he pushed his opponent Hackl into his own third, used it as a screen and sank the target with a smooth wrist shot into the top corner.

The Foxes provided an early Christmas present with victory in the top game. © Vymlatil

After a poor start to the season, the noble technician from Canada is finally back the one the HCB fans missed so much in 2019 after his move to the DEL. He also showed how difficult he is to tame in this form for opposing defensive blocks immediately before the 2-0 when he brilliantly set up Ivan Deluca and thus indirectly initiated Nick Plastino's later goal. Lead role 3: Nick Plastino He is undoubtedly Bolzano's best at the moment. He demonstrated this status in the final stages of the game when he scored a brace to force Bernard and Findlay out of the leading role within six minutes. First he gave the hitherto flawless Caps goalie Pickard no chance to defend with a hammer blueliner, then he made the decision with an empty-net goal from his own defensive third. This sealed Vienna's fourth home defeat in a row, while Plastino increased his plus-minus statistics to +20 - the best value in the league! Although the significance of this number game is controversial, it shows once again how important the long-time Ambrì Piotta defender is now for the South Tyroleans. He is currently the driving force both defensively and offensively.

HC Bozen will need exactly this strength next Tuesday when the Foxes meet Villacher SV away from home. Daniel Frank, Ben Youds, Leland Irving, Justin Fazio, Ivan Tauferer and possibly Luca Frigo (minor knee injury and match penalty) will probably be missing again, but coach Greg Ireland can once again rely on the three protagonists described above and his committed front-runner group . Vienna Capitals spusu – HCB Südtirol Alperia 0:3 Vienna: Pickard (Starkbaum); Piff-Gauthier, Fischer-Flemming, Hackl-Peter, Preiser; Cijan-Wukovits-Loney, McPhee-Vause-Richter, Artner-Nissner-Hartl, Bauer-Großlercher-Kittinger Coach: Cameron

HSBC: Andreas Bernard (Clouthier); Fournier-Plastino, Robertson-Di Perna, Pietroniro, Gios; Halmo-Catenacci-Gazley, Giliati-Alberga-Insam, Deluca-Anton Bernard-Miceli, Frigo-Findlay-Bardaro, Pitschieler Coach: Ireland

Gate: 0:1 Brett Findlay (46.07), 0:2 Nick Plastino (53.46), 0:3 Nick Plastino (59.05) The other results from Sunday: Klagenfurt – Innsbruck 1:4 Goals: 0:1 Paulweber (18.12), 1:1 Ticar (32.56), 1:2 Ciampini (43.28), 1:3 Gerlach (57.54), 1:4 Winkler (59.39)

Bratislava – Villach 3:2 Goals: 1:0 Higgs (8.55), 1:1 Kornelli (15.20), 1:2 Caron (34.36), 2:2 Bubela (39.47), 3:2 Hudec (47.49) The table: SP G U V TV P 1. HCB South Tyrol 20 15 0 5 71:38 47 2. Fehervar 24 14 0 10 80:77 42 3. Vienna Capitals 22 14 0 8 71:53 41 4. Klagenfurt 23 12 0 11 60:50 38 5. Salzburg 17 11 0 6 61:43 33 6. Innsbruck 22 11 0 11 79:75 33 7. Graz99ers 23 11 0 12 73:79 33 8. Dornbirn 21 11 0 10 59:61 31 9. Bratislava 22 9 0 13 60:75 27 10. Villach 23 7 0 16 52:79 21 11. Linz 23 5 0 18 44:80 14

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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Shutout on the debut: Bernard and the HCB celebrate a fantastic victory

In a top game characterized by speed, toughness and outstanding goalkeepers, HCB Südtirol Alperia clearly showed the Vienna Capitals their limits. In addition to Bozen's new number 1, the two currently strongest HCB cracks became the main actors.

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