Eishockey
The KAC has its back to the wall in the sixth game of the final series of the win2day ICE Hockey League against defending champion Red Bull Salzburg. If the score was 2:3 in the “best of seven” series, the season would end with another defeat for the Carinthians and the “Bulls” would be champions again. The sixth game takes place on Tuesday (7.30 p.m.) in Salzburg. In any case, the KAC is not giving up.
16.04.2024 12.30
Online since today, 12.30 p.m
After two defeats in overtime in a row, the Carinthians are under pressure in the Salzburg ice arena. Seven of their last eight games in Salzburg were lost – the Klagenfurt team are confident with their five goals in each of the previous finals in Salzburg.
However, a 2-3 deficit in a play-off duel has always been an insurmountable hurdle for Klagenfurt in the league: to date, the KAC has lost six times in the series. But twice, in 2010 in the quarterfinals against Salzburg and in 2022 against the Capitals, the KAC forced a seventh game. The showdown in this year’s final against Salzburg would take place on Friday (7.30 p.m.) in Klagenfurt.
GEPA/Gintare Karpavici KAC coach Kirk Furey and team attack again in the sixth final game
Statistics favor Salzburg
Of course, the statistics speak in favor of Salzburg, which could secure its third title in a row with a home win on Tuesday. A 3-2 lead has been a safe bet for the “Bulls” in the past: Salzburg won the series in twelve out of 13 cases, ten times in the sixth game. Salzburg only slipped up once: in the 2018 final against HCB Südtirol, when they lost games six and seven.
The KAC clings to this. “We are going into game six very motivated, we definitely want to force game seven,” said captain Thomas Hundertpfund. “In a situation like this, it’s the famous little things that matter. We haven’t been pursued by luck in the series so far, but we know that luck can be achieved through hard work. So we roll up our sleeves and hope that the puck bounces for us from now on.”
