Release from 23.03.2024

Semifinal duels between Austria and South Tyrol enter third round

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The two "best-of-7" semifinal series in the win2day ICE Hockey League will continue on Sunday. While the pairing with last year's finalists EC Red Bull Salzburg and HCB Südtirol Alperia will continue at 1-1, EC-KAC already has the opportunity to earn match pucks for a place in the final against HC Pustertal Wölfe.

The game between champions Salzburg and Runner-Up Bolzano will be shown live on PULS24 and in the Joyn app from 6:05 pm, while the game between the "Rotjacken" and the "Wölfe" will be available from 5:30 pm on www.live.ice.hockey (PPV).

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Win2day ICE Hockey League | Semifinals Game Three | 24.03.2024 | Schedule:
Sun, 24.03.2024, 5.30 pm: EC-KAC – HC Pustertal Wölfe
Referees: HUBER A., OFNER, Durmis, Konc. | >> live.ice.hockey (PPV) <<
“best-of-7” series: 2:0
The EC-KAC took a 2-0 series lead against the HC Pustertal Wölfe on Friday night, as Klagenfurt laid the foundation for its second win with a strong opening period in which the "Rotjacken" scored three goals. This means that the KAC has yet to lose a game in which it has scored the first goal in the current postseason. The last defeat after leading 1-0 dates back to January 26th – Innsbruck finally won 3-2 after a shootout. Klagenfurt's showpiece at the moment is their performance with one man less on the ice: In 35 shorthanded situations, the KAC only conceded two goals – giving them a PK percentage of 94.3%. On Friday, however, the PK unit was shaky, with both Wolves goals being preceded by a power play. The team from Bruneck might have caught fire again – in the regular season they were the most efficient team with one man more on the ice.

The EC-KAC has held a 2-0 advantage in a seven-game play-off confrontation 13 times in its history, and in twelve cases it has won the series - always after four or five games. Only once, in the 2002 semifinal against EC VSV, did the record champions have to bow out after two wins to open the series. Opponents HC Pustertal Wölfe, who will be able to call on Ryan Stanton again on Saturday after his recent suspension, have already overturned a 2-0 series deficit in the quarter-final series against Székesfehérvár.

Sun, 24.03.2024, 5.30 pm: EC-KAC – HC Pustertal Wölfe
“best-of-7” series: 1:1
Referees: NIKOLIC K., SMETANA, Riecken, Zgonc. | >> LIVE AUF PULS24 <<
The final rematch between EC Red Bull Salzburg and HCB Südtirol Alperia is increasingly turning into a duel of goalies – reminiscent of last year's seven-game series: While Bolzano's Sam Harvey recorded a shutout in the first encounter, Atte Tolvanen also put in a strong performance in game two - only an unfortunate goal against prevented his shutout.

Both Harvey - who only returned to Bolzano during the season - and Tolvanen improved their performance again in the playoffs: the Canadian's GAA went from 3.17 to 2.01 and his save percentage from 89.2 to 93.1. The two-time playoff MVP from Salzburg went one better in the postseason stats and currently has a goals-against average of 1.45 and a save percentage of 93.6%.

Bolzano can also rely on its special teams: The "Foxes" score every third PP and also show up when shorthanded (85%). Mike Halmo could return to the Bolzano line-up.