Black Wings fight:

“They’re not that superior!”d

The Black Wings have only scored six goals in four duels(Bild: BWL/Reinhard Eisenbauer)

Turnaround or the end! Ice hockey Linz has its back to the wall this Monday. In Salzburg's Volksgarten, where the first two away games were clearly lost with 0:4 and 1:5, the Black Wings have to win today - otherwise the season is over. The team from the Steel Cities is fighting...

"On the day after International Women's Day, this was a game of real men - from both teams. We had to show character, fighting spirit and cohesion, and we did that," said a satisfied Salzburg coach Oliver David. No wonder, as the Eisbullen narrowly won quarter-final no. 4 away from home 3:2 on Saturday after Linz equalized twice. "We put in a lot of effort, I'm proud of the boys. But Salzburg underlined why they are the two-time defending champions," said Black Wings coach Philipp Lukas. His team is facing the end of the season today in Salzburg at 1:3 in the series. In the Volksgarten, where the first two duels were clearly lost with 0:4 and 1:5, the Linzers are doomed to win!

A top performance from goalkeeper Tirronen is also needed for a win(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Goal conceded was a league record
Nobody wants to go on vacation yet, but the narrow 2:3 home win is encouraging. "We are in it! They're not that powerful either. We're not giving up, we're going all out again and we firmly believe that we can turn the series around," said striker Andi Kristler. To bring the series back to Linz for a sixth clash on Wednesday, however, they will need a better start to the game: In clash 3, they trailed 0:1 in Salzburg after 51 seconds and 0:2 after six minutes, in game 4 0:1 after eight seconds following a blackout - it was the fastest goal in the league's play-off history.

Can Romig and Co. cheer again?(Bild: EXPA/ Reinhard Eisenbauer)

"We're not gone yet"
"Chasing a deficit is suboptimal - especially against Salzburg. We definitely need to get off to a better start, and it would be desirable to go into the first period break without trailing. But it's not a concert of wishes," says Lukas, whose team has only scored six goals in four duels (to 14) and is 2:5 in the power play! Lukas: "We want to play with the same energy as in Linz, stay out of the penalty box - but it's not easy. There's no magic pill, we're responsible for how we present ourselves. That was good in the last game, but it wasn't rewarded." Postscript: "But we're not gone yet!"