Serie A Škoda: The foxes defend their den from the wolves

In the second match of this final series, the Foxes had home advantage for the first time, as they played in front of 5200 enthusiastic fans in the ice wave. After the defeat at the start in Brunico, the guests were already under a bit of pressure today because they had to level the series again. The home team was missing Meyers, who was injured for a long time, and Edwardson was also not in the squad because he is not yet 100 percent fit after his injury. For the Wolves, Jensen returned to the squad, while Magnan and Desfossés had to sit in the stands as surplus foreigners. The atmosphere in the ice wave was like that of a cauldron and was more than worthy of a finale. Before the game kicked off, Igor Maslenikov, a former “great” Bolzano player, was honored.

Just a few moments after kick-off, the visitors had their first opportunity, but Persson hung on to Zaba. The White-Reds then played in the majority, but despite good control of the goal, they were unable to create any significant chances. The Pusterers did better because after 7.29 minutes the bell rang in Zaba's box. Max Oberrauch scored with a shot from behind the goal after a pass from Crepaz. The goal was good for the game because it remained lively and exciting with lots of dangerous moves but not necessarily great chances to score. The equalizer came in the 14th minute. Walcher curved behind the goal, laid it out for Sharp, who shot the puck from a tight angle at Strömberg's back and from there the puck rolled into the goal. A little later, Bona should have taken the lead again, but Zaba was in the position in the man-to-man duel. On the other side, Strömberg was wide awake when McCutcheon pushed forward. The last chance of the first third also belonged to the home team, but Sharp's backhand shot just wide.

In the middle third, the guests initially came out of the locker room better when Oberrauch missed a top-class player in the majority. As soon as Bozen was complete, Giliati picked up speed towards Strömberg's goal and passed the puck into the middle, where Knackstedt's shot was blocked by Kelly with his skate. The game was really good, fast-paced and played by both teams with a lot of commitment and will to win. First the yellow-blacks had another chance, with Scandella unable to overcome Zaba. But Bolzano took the lead with Borgatello, who gave Strömberg the advantage with a powerful shot from the blue line. The assist to make it 2-1 in the 27.50 minute came from Bernard. The goal inspired the Wolves, who missed the next two opportunities with Oberrauch and Scandella. Afterwards it was Insam who narrowly pushed the disc past the housing. This time the guests caused the last upset of the third when Willleit found his master after a solo effort in Zaba.

In the third third, the people of Bolzano were extremely dangerous with Bernard and Giliati, before the guests surrounded the Talferstadt team in their third for a long time. The Wolves had numerous scoring opportunities, but the striking Oberrauch and Kelly were unable to overcome Zaba. After just 5.16:2 minutes in the third period, Coach Insam called a time out to give his team a breather. After that, the Foxes limited themselves to counterattacking, but Strömberg was always at his post during the few relief attacks. The Wolves also couldn't outsmart the Bolzano team when they had the majority, and the longer the game lasted, the better the home team defended themselves and allowed next to nothing in the final phase. It remained a narrow 1-XNUMX victory for the Talferstadt team, who remained undefeated in the play-off and also successfully defended Fort Eiswelle.

However, the wolves, who fought bravely but were not rewarded, came away empty-handed. In any case, on Tuesday the Pusterers already have their backs to the wall and can't afford any more missteps.

(2) HC Bozen – (1) Wolves Fiat Professional Pustertal (1) 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0) HC Bolzano: Matt Zaba (Guenther Hell); Brandon Rogers, Alexander Egger, Christian Borgatello, Andrea Ambrosi, Daniel Fabris; Stefano Giliati, Jordan Knackstedt, Mac Gregor Sharp, Marco Insam, Mark McCutcheon, Anton Bernard, Stefan Zisser, Enrico Dorigatti, Christian Walcher, Tuomo Harjula, Federico Demetz; Coach: Adolf Insam

Wolves Fiat Professional Pustertal: Mikko Stromberg (Hannes Hopfgartner); Matt Kelly, Christian Willeit, Armin Helfer, Fredrik Persson, Armin Hofer, Christian Mair, Danny Eliscassis; Giulio Scandella, David Ling, Max Oberrauch, Joe Jensen, Joseph Cullen, Lukas Crepaz, Patrick Bona, Nate Di Casmirro, Ryan Watson, Thomas Erlacher, Lukas Tauber, Viktor Schweizer; Coach: Teppo Kivela

Gates: 0:1 Max Oberrauch (7.29), 1:1 MacGregor Sharp (13.18), 2:1 Christian Borgatello (27.50)

Serie A Škoda, 2nd Play Off Final (best of seven) – Saturday, April 7th (2) HC Bozen – (1) Wolves Fiat Professional Pustertal 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0) Bolzano leads the series 2-0.

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Serie A Škoda: The foxes defend their den from the wolves

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