Red Bull Salzburg satisfied after the first two Champions League games – Hockey-News.info – All news about national and international ice hockey
It couldn’t be more exciting! In the first two group games of the Champions Hockey League last weekend, the Red Bulls both had to go into overtime. The Stavanger Oilers (Thursday) finally beat Raffl & Co 3-2, against Ilves Tampere (Saturday) Salzburg had to admit defeat 2-3 16 seconds before the end of overtime.
In the table – the first two teams after the group phase qualify for the playoff round of 16 – the Red Bulls are currently in third place, but in view of the narrowest standings in all groups (1st Stavanger Oilers/4 p., 2nd Fribourg-Gottéron/ 3 p., 3. Red Bull Salzburg/ 3 p., 4. Ilves, 2 p.) continue to have every chance of promotion.
In terms of gameplay, the reigning champions of the win2day ICE Hockey League showed two games at the highest international level. Head coach Matt McIlvane wasn’t dissatisfied despite the defeat against the Finns on Saturday: “I really liked the effort my boys played in the game. They were a very strong opponent that we played against. Just look at the speed at which Selbst was played in overtime. But we also held up well in 5 vs. 5 and definitely deserved the extra time.” As a reminder: Benjamin Nissner only deflected Peter Schneider’s shot in the 60th minute to make it 2:2 and thus forced overtime.
Not only Salzburg’s head coach was impressed by his team’s performance. All spectators who saw the game in the Salzburg Ice Arena will certainly come back. The 36-year-old American said: “This game was purely an advertisement for ice hockey. Even such a game with relatively few goals. Both teams fought for every puck and didn’t give up an inch of ice. That was just beautiful to look at.”
Next Friday and Sunday, the CHL second legs in Stavanger and Tampere are on the agenda. Salzburg want to build on their strong performances and also want to score points abroad. Matt McIlvane: “We want to play the same game away from home as we do at home. We’ve recovered from the first very intense weekend and are currently analyzing where we can improve. And then we will try again to take advantage of our chances.”
www.redbulls.com, image: GEPA pictures/ Gintare Karpaviciute