Release from 27.02.2023

Four teams fight for two quarterfinal tickets

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The Regular Season of the win2day ICE Hockey League has concluded and six of eight quarterfinal tickets have been awarded. In the pre-playoffs, which are being held for the second time, the remaining two spots for the ICE Quarterfinals will be played out in two "best-of-three" series starting Tuesday. Both in the duel Steinbach Black Wings Linz (#7) against Moser Medical Graz99ers (#10) and in the duel Hydro Fehérvár AV19 (#8) against Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey (#9) the current form speaks for the lower ranked teams. The Austrian duel between Graz and Linz will be broadcast live on Puls 24 on Tuesday.

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win2day ICE Hockey League, Pre-Playoffs:
19:15 Hydro Fehérvár AV 19 - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
Stand of the "best-of-three" series: 0:0
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Durmis, Riecken | >> PPV-Stream

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 made it to the finals last season. The Regular Season of the 2022/23 season was not quite as successful. 21 victories were offset by 27 defeats. Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey finished the regular season just behind the Hungarians. The league newcomer knew how to convince especially in the last third of the Regular Season. With eleven wins in the past 15 games, the Yellow-Red are the third most successful team in this period. For the Hungarians, the first half of the season was particularly promising, as they were almost consistently among the top 6 teams until mid-December, before a small slump followed. At Asiago, the "star players" are quickly identified. Giordano Finoro was particularly convincing in his ICE debut season. The Italian-Canadian scored 28 goals in 48 appearances and shares the scoring crown with Adam Helewka (HCI) and Max Zimmer (VIC). Together with Allan MsShane - who is the ICE's third-leading scorer with 59 points (25 goals, 34 assists) - he forms one of the most dangerous forward duos. In recent weeks, however, Anthony Salinitri in particular stood out from a strong collective. He finished the regular season with a hat trick on Sunday and his scoring streak is already at four games. With Fehérvár, it's not quite so easy to single out a "star player", but the Hungarians convince with their balance. The most successful players in terms of scorer points are Alex Petan (16 goals, 19 assists) and Janos Hari (11 goals, 22 assists).

In the direct duels, the two teams divided wins and losses fairly, with a small points advantage for Fehérvár, who once had to admit defeat only in overtime. In each of the last two meetings between these two teams, there were shutouts for the host team. After Dominik Horvath and his team celebrated a 3:0 in December, Justin Fazio and Co. returned the favor a month later with a 4:0.




28.02.2023, 19:30 Steinbach Black Wings Linz - Moser Medical Graz99ers
Stand of the "best-of-three" series: 0:0
Referees: HRONSKY, OFNER, Konc, Nothegger | >> Free Stream

Steinbach Black Wings Linz earned the right to pick in the showdown against Hydro Fehérvár AV19 on Sunday with a 4-2 win and chose Moser Medical Graz99ers as their pre-playoff opponent. Although the Styrians only finished the regular season in tenth place and only clinched their place in the pre-playoffs on the last matchday, they are in much better form than the Linzers and have also won the direct season duels with the Upper Austrians. While Graz managed to win half of its last ten games, Linz dropped significantly in the standings after eight defeats in the same period and thus missed direct playoff qualification. The Styrians' offense also seems to work better against Linz than against almost any other team. On average, Johan Pennerborn's team scored just 2.21 goals per game this season - against Linz, they averaged four goals per encounter. The 99ers have only been beaten in one of their four duels against the Upper Austrians this season. The last defeat of the Graz team in Linz was more than two years ago. Since then, the Styrians have celebrated four wins in a row at the Linz AG Eisarena. Graz has found it difficult to get into a winning streak this season. Five times this season they managed to win two consecutive games. The 99ers have never won more than two games in a row this season. Unlike the Linzers, who have already put together a number of series worth watching this season. In the last few weeks, both teams were able to convince with their Austrian players. On the Black Wings' side, Andreas Kristler has been particularly convincing, scoring two goals worth seeing in the last game of the first round. For the Graz team, Daniel Woger and Sam Antonitsch in particular are on fire, having combined for twelve points in the last three victories. The match will be broadcast live on PULS 24.



Overtime rule in the postseason

Starting in the pre-playoff, if the score is tied after regular playing time, an endless overtime with sudden-death will be played. In non-decision games, the number of field players will be reduced to three players plus one goalie per team after the first complete overtime of 20 minutes. In deciding games, five-on-five shall be played until the winning goal is scored.