1:5 defeat in Salzburg

At 21:40, the Black Wings’ season was over

Champions Salzburg (r. Bourke) are through to the semi-finals

(Bild: GEPA pictures/ Mathias Mandl)

"Once Linza, always Linza", chanted the hundreds of fans traveling with the Black Wings at the end of the game. For the last time this season! Because it ended with a clear 1:5 in Salzburg, which meant that the quarter-final series went to the reigning champions with a clear 4:1.

The final buzzer sounded at precisely 9:40 pm, marking the end of quarter-final 5 between defending ice hockey champions Salzburg and the Black Wings and thus the end of the season. In the final duel, the Eisbullen trampled Linz to the ground again at home, winning 5:1! And you could feel sorry for the visiting fans. For the third time in a week, hundreds had accompanied their cracks despite the 0:4 and 1:5 defeats in the first away games and quickly had to bury all their hopes:

• Linz wanted to take few penalties - in minute 5, MacKenzie was already sitting, Bourke curved around the box and scored the "can opener" for Red Bull to make it 1-0.

• Rasmus Tirronen wanted a better goalkeeping performance - but the Finn shoveled a shot from behind the extended goal line into the box himself - 0:2 (12.). What a "cookie" from the goalkeeper, who found his master in Salzburg's Finn colleague Atte Tolvanen.

Acted unfortunate again: Tirronen

(Bild: Hannes Draxler)

Tirronen substituted
Tolvanen kept and kept against Romig & Co, who also missed bunglingly. "The many penalties and inefficiency were decisive in the series," said disappointed striker Nico Feldner at the end. His team, which was often a step slower, continued to diligently miss opportunities and accumulate penalties in the second period. The champions of the last two years also showed once again how it's done in the powerplay - after Nissner's 3:0 (27'), Mario Huber increased it to 4:0 (37')! Whereupon Tirronen left the ice exasperated and backup Thomas Höneckl came on.

Only they were superior to Salzburg: the Black Wings fans

(Bild: Hannes Draxler)

Bolzano also in the semi-finals
St-Amant scored the consolation goal for the EHC in the final period, which ultimately lost clearly and emphatically 1:5. "Bitter! I think we deserved more," said Romig at the end. "The games here were closer than the results," said coach Philipp Lukas after the end of the season - which also befell VSV with a 2-1 defeat in Bolzano. Vorarlberg reduced the deficit to 2:3 with a 6:1 (!) at the KAC, Fehervar also leads 3:2 after beating Pustertal 3:2, while the Linz ice hockey fans can only look forward to the World Championship preparation game of Austria's national team against the Czech Republic on April 20 in Linz.