Release from 10.03.2018

Quarter Finals are changing locations

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The second round of the Quarter Finals is around the corner and chances its location to the lower ranked teams. Two teams succeeded in stealing the home advantage in the first round and aim to defend the benefit in front of their home crowds. On the other side Innsbruck and Dornbirn are striving for the first win in the Playoffs 2018.

Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, Quarter Finals 2 (best of seven):
Sun, 11.03.2018: HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ (6) vs. Vienna Capitals (1) – 17:30 Uhr.
Referees: LEMELIN, STERNAT, Kontschieder, Nemeth.
Sun, 11.03.2018: Dornbirn Bulldogs (7) vs. EC Red Bull Salzburg (2) – 17:30 Uhr, SKY Sport 4 HD und Streaming-Dienst SKY TICKET live.
Referees: GRUBER, PIRAGIC, Seewald, Verworner.
Sun, 11.03.2018: KHL Medvescak Zagreb (5) vs. EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz (3) – 17:30 Uhr, HRT live.
Referees: M. NIKOLIC, STOLC, Pardatscher, Sparer.
Sun, 11.03.2018: HCB Südtirol Alperia (8) vs. EC-KAC (4) – 17:20 Uhr, ServusTV and www.servushockeynight.com live.
Referees: SMETANA, ZRNIC, Kaspar, Zgonc.

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Facts for the second round of Quarter Finals
  • 60% of the winning teams in the first round of Quarter Finals reached the Semi Finals so far.
  • Nearly 50% of the losing teams in the first round managed to tie the series in the second game.
  • In two of the past ten seasons a losing team of the first game clinched the title at the end. (2010 Salzburg and 2012 Linz.)
  • Till now, never all four teams succeeded in tying the series in the second games.
Sun, 11.03.2018: HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ (6) vs. Vienna Capitals (1) – 17:30 Uhr
Series standings VIC 1 – HCI 0
  • The Caps won their past 13 games in playoffs.
  • Innsbruck is on a losing streak of seven games in postseason.
  • The Vienna Capitals won six out of seven duels with Innsbruck this season.
  • Innsbruck didn’t win a single playoff game against the Caps so far.
  • The second game of the Quarter Finals past season of these two teams went over 104 minutes.
Rene Swette, Goalie HCI: „We can do that better. It’s on us to proof it. We have enough experienced players.”
 
Andreas Nödl, VIC: „It was important to start with a win. Now we have to further increase the intensity. Innsbruck will step up and we need to be prepared for that.“

Sun, 11.03.2018: Dornbirn Bulldogs (7) vs. EC Red Bull Salzburg (2) – 17:30 Uhr, SKY Sport 4 HD und Streaming-Dienst SKY TICKET live.
Series standings RBS 1 – DEC 0
  •  Salzburg captured the lead lead in the series after overtime.
  • It’s the third time Dornbirn reached the Quarter Finals. In the first two attempts they didn’t reach the semis, despite of leading the series in the quarter finals.
  • Thoms Raffl scored in the past four games against the Bulldogs in total six goals.
  • Salzburg won three out of four Duels against Innsbruck this season so far. 
  • The Bulldogs lost the past five games in playoffs. 
Greg Poss, Headcoach Salzburg: „We are happy with the first win. But we saw the strengths of Dornbirn in the first game. They are an excellent break-away team. The forwards need to help the defenders a bit more.”
 
Sun, 11.03.2018: KHL Medvescak Zagreb (5) vs. EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz (3) – 17:30 Uhr, HRT live.
series standings BWL 0 – MZA 1
  • Zagreb wo the past two duels with Linz. The Black Wings are still leading the duels this season with 4:3.
  • Six of the seven duels this season were decided with one goal difference. Three games found its decision in overtime or shootout.
  • In the first game of Quarter Finals all powerplays were killed.
  • Zagreb has a positive balance in home games this season (13:11), Linz is negative in road games (9:14).
  • Zagreb won only one of the past seven home games. Linz won only one of the past four road games.
Joel Broda, Spieler BWL: „We knew that it will be a tough series. It doesn’t matter if we lose at home or on the road. We need to find the right answer.”
 
Sun, 11.03.2018: HCB Südtirol Alperia (8) vs. EC-KAC (4) – 17:20 Uhr, ServusTV und www.servushockeynight.com live.
series standings KAC 0 – HCB 1
  • Bozen celebrated a win in the first game of quarter finals for the first time in the past four games.
  • The HCB had the highest scoring efficiency in the first round of the Quarter Finals (15%), the KAC the lowest (3,85 %).
  • The KAC won all four duels in regular season and had to take the first defeat to an inopportune time.
  • Bolzano has a winning streak of four games and also won the past four home games.
  • KAC lost the past two road games in regular season.
Alex Petan, Spieler HCB: „We already head quite unpromising situations this season. We learned a lot of this situations and we know, that we can reach a lot if we act as a team. Everything is possible in front of our home crowd.”

Christoph Brandner, Assistant Coach KAC: „It wasn’t our best game. We were able to create some good chances, but one goal is not enough. Our powerplay has room for improvement. We need to play with more intensity.“