Ice hockey: Salzburg is aiming for the second CHL quarterfinals
ice Hockey
On Tuesday (6.05 p.m., live on ORF Sport+), Red Bull Salzburg will fight defending champions Rögle BK in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) for a place in the quarter-finals. After the 3-1 home win, the “Bulls” take a two-goal lead to Ängelholm in Sweden. There, a convincing performance like in the first leg is necessary to get into the last eight for the second time after 2018/19.
Salzburg, who went into the round of 16 as an underdog, surprised the defending champion with an extremely powerful home performance. The “Bulls” also want to follow that on the road. “We know what’s at stake and we’re ready to give our best performance,” said Salzburg defender Dominique Heinrich. Andrew MacWilliam and Lucas Thaler are back on board. Not included are convalescents Ty Loney, Troy Bourke and Tyler Lewington.
However, the dress rehearsal for the duel on Tuesday went wrong. In a close game, the “Bulls” lost 1-0 to the Moser Medical Graz 99ers on Sunday. Head coach Matt McIlvane was dissatisfied with the performance. “We weren’t happy with the way we played, even if Graz played as a strong team,” said McIlvane.
Dampener for Salzburg
Failed dress rehearsal for Salzburg before the round of 16 second leg in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) at Rögle BK: The “Bulls” suffered a 0-1 defeat in the ICE Hockey League in Graz. As a result, Salzburg missed the leap to the top.
Full concentration on Rögle
Shortly thereafter, however, the trainer turned his attention to the important duel with Rögle: “We are able to improve again for Tuesday. We’ll learn from yesterday’s game and concentrate fully on our task in the Champions Hockey League again.” A win, a draw or a defeat by just one goal would be a surprise. A defeat with a difference of two goals would go into extra time, Salzburg losing more would mean the end.
On the host side, Austrian Marco Kasper is in the red-white-red focus. The 18-year-old forward was drafted by NHL club Detroit Red Wings in July and is due to receive the necessary finishing touches from Rögle before moving to North America. In the Swedish SHL league, things are not going according to plan for the club from Ängelholm, which won all six games in the CHL regular season. Rögle is currently only eleventh in the table, on Saturday they lost 4-1 to second-placed Örebro.