Release from 01.04.2018

Capitals try to stay alive in semis

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The reigning champions Vienna Capitals are with the back to the wall in their „best of seven“ semifinal series against HC Bolzano as the Viennese need a home win on Easter Monday to stay alive. In the second pairing EC Red Bull Salzburg and Liwest Black Wings Linz both try to get a match puck.

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3 facts before Monday's fifth semifinal games in Vienna and Salzburg:
  • HC Bolzano could be the first ever No. 8 seeded team that makes it to Erste Bank Eishockey Liga finals
  • In 5 of 8 semis winning the opening period laid the foundation for the win
  • The Black Wings have not won three games in their previous two playoff series against Salzburg
Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, semifinals 5 (best of seven):
Mon, 02.04.2018: EC Red Bull Salzburg (2) vs. EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz (3) – 17:20, ServusTV & www.servushockeynight.com live
Referees: M. NIKOLIC, STOLC, Pardatscher, Verworner
Score in the "best of seven" semifinal series, RBS – BWL: 2:2.
  • The series of home wins continued on Saturday when Linz tied it again with a 5:2 home win
  • In the 2015 quarterfinal series between Linz and Bolzano there were only home wins with the Upper Austrians advancing in the end
  • In the past two seasons the Red Bulls entered the fifth game of semis at a 2:2 score - in 2016 they beat Villach and won the series 4:2, in 2017 the lost to Klagenfurt and lost this one 2:4
  • On November 30, 2017 the Black Wings claimed their last win at Volksgarten with Corey Locke scoring the 5:4 game winner in the final minute
  • Linz forward Dan DaSilva leads the playoff scoring charts with 15 points
Julien Brouillette (EC Red Bull Salzburg): „It's best of three now, we are focused. We have done well at home and we can come back after defeats, that's what we showed against Dornbirn.“ 

Rick Schofield (Liwest Black Wings Linz): „We know what they do and they know the same about us. It's all about work hard and stick to the game plan.“
 
Mon, 02.04.2018: Vienna Capitals (1) vs. HCB Südtirol Alperia (8) – 17:30, SKY Sport 6 HD, SKY TICKET & video33.it live.
Referees: PIRAGIC, SMETANA, Hribar, Nemeth
Score in the "best of seven" semifinal series, VIC – HCB: 1:3.
  • After winning three in a row Bolzano just needs one more win to go through to finals
  • In the past five seasons, the champion of last year just once made it to the finals (Salzburg 2016)
  • As in quarters, the foxes are doing very well defensively as they only conceded five goals against in the last three games
  • The Caps have not lost four successive games this season
  • The Viennese lately missed key players Holzapfel and Rotter while Bolzano's Stefano Marchetti was injured in game 4
Serge Aubin (Head coach Vienna Capitals): „The series is not over. First we need a home win to go back to Bolzano. It's not an easy situation but we are the better team 5 on 5 and fully believe in ourselves.“
 
Anton Bernard (HCB Südtirol Alperia): „We have to be grounded, the last win in a series is always the toughest. The Caps are a good team and it will be a hard fight once again. I hope that we can seal the deal but it won't be easy.“


Semifinals on social media:
 
   
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