Release from 14.04.2024

Salzburg one win short to defend title

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The EC Red Bull Salzburg is one win short to defend the titel in the win2day ICE Hockey League, after the reigning champions snatched up a 3-2 OT road win at Klagenfurt to take a 3-2 lead in the “best-of-7” final series. Ryan Murphy tied the game with five seconds left, while Nicolai Meyer hit his second OT game winner in this year’s playoffs, as Salzburg remains unbeaten in postseason extra sessions.

Tuesday night (from 7.05 live on PULS 24 and Joyn Sport) the Red Bulls can secure their third title in a row, winning the Championship at home.

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The fifth final game between the EC-KAC and EC Red Bull Salzburg was preceded by a personnel change for the visitors from Salzburg, as Peter Schneider was absent due to personal reasons, with Luca Auer starting alongside Thomas Raffl and Benjamin Nissner. There was little action in the opening minutes – before Jan Mursak, after Manuel Ganahl collected his own rebound and crossed, was only denied by the well-disposed Atte Tolvanen. The EC-KAC were then more present offensively, operating out of a compact, strong defense. The "Rotjacken" then took the lead in the 10th minute, as Thomas Hundertpfund, who scored his 34th playoff goal and is now the KAC player with the most goals in the postseason since the league was founded, finished it off. Salzburg also had a good chance in the first period, however, with Mario Huber failing to hit the post.

Both goalies kept a clean sheet in the second period. Overall, the pace increased on both sides, with Salzburg having a slight advantage – Paul Huber in particular narrowly missed out on equalizing twice. On the Klagenfurt side, Matt Fraser had the best chance in the slot. Salzburg equalized quickly in the final period: 63 seconds after the restart, Thomas Raffl took a shot and the puck slipped under Sebastian Dahm's pads. The game was open again until Johannes Bischofberger shot "far side, top shelf" from the right – Tolvanen had no chance. Klagenfurt then seemed to have the game wrapped up, but Ryan Murphy equalized from an acute angle five seconds before the end. Both teams had good opportunities in overtime. In the seventh minute of overtime, it was Nicolai Meyer who had plenty of space from the left in the power play and beat Dahm.

win2day ICE Hockey League | 14.04.2024 | Finals game five | Results:
EC-KAC – EC Red Bull Salzburg 2:3 OT (1:0, 0:0, 1:2, 0:1)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SMETANA, Mantovani, Zgonc. | Spectators: 4.405
"best-of-7" series: 2:3
Goals KAC: Hundertpfund (10.), Bischofberger (47.)
Goals RBS: Raffl (42.), Murphy (60.), Meyer (67./PP1)