A clean sheet at the start

Bolzano goalie made the Eisbullen’s false start perfect

The Bulls couldn't get past Bolzano goalie Harvey.(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

Bitter zero number: Champions Salzburg lost the first semi-final match against Bolzano 2-0. David-Crew lost the thread more and more in the game.

They roared through the quarter-finals with a 4:1 win and had won the two home games in the season duels before that by three goals plus - but at the start of the semi-final series between the Eisbullen and Bolzano, the two-goal run came to an end. In front of only around 2,700 Eisarena spectators, the visitors deservedly won 2:0 and celebrated their away win. "We didn't score", Salzburg coach Oliver David put it in a nutshell.

After an initially fast-paced game, in which the South Tyroleans (without roughneck Halmo) had made the first power play in the remake of last year's final - Ford caught goalie Tolvanen backhanded in the short corner. There was no immediate reply, as a Meyer deflection only hit the crossbar (10th). Otherwise, despite the Bulls' clear advantage in chances in the opening period (21:7), it was all Harvey's doing - the visitors' keeper played extremely well. Nothing changed in the rest of the game. Especially as Bolzano's play became more and more attacking and the Bulls' offense lost more and more energy. The score was 0:2 almost as the second buzzer sounded - Gazley scored again from close range against his former club. He had no answer to that. In the end, only the dozen or so Italo fans who had traveled with them sang.

"We had the chances, we tried everything," said captain Tom Raffl. "The focus is on the future." Friday in Bolzano a better performance is definitely needed. KAC didn't show any weakness at home, however, and immediately went 7:1 ahead against Pustertal.