Capitals lose in penalty shootout against Postertal

The spusu Vienna Capitals team was forced to admit defeat to HC Pustertal 2:3 after a penalty shootout. Christian Casastol gives the visitors the lead in the first third (12). Shortly before the end of the second half, the teams tied the game on a power play through Armin Preiser (39/PP1). Dante Hanoun ensures that the visitors still take the lead in the final third (40). In the final third, the Capitals were inexplicably denied a supposed equalizer by Zane Franklin after a video review. Trevor Cech then sent the game into extra time with a power-play goal shortly afterwards (57th). After goalless extra time, Mats Fryklund took the decision in the penalty shootout. Thus, the Capitals reduce the gap to tenth place to eight points. Tomorrow Vienna will host HC TIWAG Innsbruck at the STEFFL Stadium, who today won 4-1 over bottom team Moser Medical Graz99ers. The game starts again at 7:15 p.m.

Cubs head coach Christian Dolezal made some changes to the lineup from Tuesday's win over Villach. New signing Ried Stefansson celebrated his debut in a Capitals jersey against HC Postertal, while Mattias Bohm, who was recently injured, returned to the lineup. The sick Christoph Krump was missing, as were the wounded Nico Brunner, Hampus Eriksson, Leon Wallner and Zentis Zucevic. In goal, Sebastian Ranchetz replaces Swede Stefan Steen, who has been in the starting lineup for the last eight matches. The visitors found the first shots of the match, but Ranicits had no problem with the South Tyrol side's attempts. Lukas Kainz took the first shot for the Vienna team in the fourth minute, but the Lower Austria team's shot went wide of the goal. Shortly thereafter, Evan Wardley reached the goal at the blue line, but HCP goalkeeper Andreas Bernard got the ball. Leon Vidalm tried from the left side in the sixth minute, but the Postertal goalkeeper blocked it again. One minute later, the first penalty kick was issued against the visitors. Simon Berger brought down Zane Franklin unfairly and was awarded a two-minute penalty for tripping. Rok Ticar put the first shot on the power play to the left of the box. Evan Wenger's ninth-minute effort was blocked by a home defender and the visitors were back together soon after. A few seconds later, Wardley and Fisher hit the ball, and after the Caps captain's shot, the ball bounced into the slot to Lucas Piffe, but he couldn't get past Bernard. Patrick Antal tried after a cross pass from Armin Preiser in the eleventh minute, but the Wolverhampton goalkeeper was there again. In the 12th minute, the visitors took the lead with a perfect shot from Christian Casatol. On the other hand, Stefansson directed a sharp pass from Zane Franklin towards the home team's goal, but the ball flew past the goal. Ivan Wenger moved very quickly from the left side to the center in the attacking third, but Bernard blocked him. Matthias Böhm had a try in the 14th minute, but he was also unable to get past the 33-year-old South Tyrol player. Daniel Glera's shot was blocked by Ranschitz a minute later, but the Vienna side eventually parried the rebound by combining forces. In the 16th minute, Alex Batan scored twice from the slot, both times blocked by Ranchetz. The Vienna players had to dive when Dante Hanoune curled around the ball and grabbed the puck thanks to a brilliant save. Subsequent shots from Zach Sale and Ryan Stanton in the 17th minute were no problem for the Cubs' goaltender either.

Ivan DeLuca tried to turn around in the 23rd minute, but Ranicits was cautious. Stanton shot from long range and the Cubs goaltender grabbed the puck. In the 24th minute, Franklin was forced to leave the game for two minutes after a header on White Egg. The most dangerous power play in win2day ICE Hockey League found no dangerous shots on goal and the Caps kept themselves harmless. Upon his return, Franklin intercepted Postertal's pass, but his back attempt against Bernard failed to reach the goal. In the 29th minute, the 33-year-old had problems with a shot from Brezer, but the visitors were able to clear the rebound. Shortly afterwards, HCP goalkeeper was unable to control Dominik Heinrich's shot. In the 30th minute, Bernard blocked Leon Vedlem's shot. Weinger was also unable to get his shot from the right past the HCP goalkeeper. A minute later, Wraneschitz also had to make another save. Shortly afterwards, the Capitals faced a brief period of pressure with several shots, but neither Stefansson, Kainz nor Wardley were able to get the ball past a crowded Bernard and into the goal. In the 37th minute, the visitors had too many players on the ice, which led to Vienna's second power play. Stefansson and Heinrich tried, but Bernard managed to block both shots. In the 39th minute, South Tyrol were beaten, and Preiser sent the puck from the high slot into the far corner. But the equalizer was short-lived, as Hannon put the South Tyrol team back in front with 35 seconds left in the middle third.

Tikar was able to reach the ball in front of Bernard in the 42nd minute, and the Slovenian finished the ball technically, but the Supreme Council of Football goalkeeper was able to catch the puck. Mats Frycklund shot the ball from the middle on the left side, but it did not pose any problems for the Wraneschitz players. In the 44th minute, Bohm played in front of the onrushing Heinrich, whose shot was blocked by Bernard. Cainz tried to score in the 46th minute, but the Supreme Council of Football's goalkeeper blocked it. The visitors counterattacked in return, but Wraneschitz succeeded in securing the goal, also due to Seamus Donohue's intervention on the Pustertal striker. However, the referees awarded a penalty kick to South Tyrol, but Hannon failed due to Ranchetz. In the 47th minute, Vienna also easily blocked a shot from Petan. Antal tested Bernard with a shot from the left side that was blocked by the South Tyrol player. Matthias Manntinger fired the ball at Al Aluminum in the 48th minute. After an assist from Stefansson, Wardley shot from the blue line and Bernard held on to the goal. Wraneschitz ended a period of pressure from the visitors by repelling Stanton. South Tyrol got on the power play immediately after that. Heinrich had to go to the penalty area in the 51st minute due to being caught. The Cubs had a chance in the 52nd minute, but Stefansson failed to connect the pass to Donohue, who was running alongside him. win2day's best power play ICE Hockey League couldn't get a shot on goal in this outnumbered situation, and the Caps kept themselves harmless. In the 55th minute, Ranchetz blocked a shot from Petan, and then a penalty kick was awarded to the visitors. With a temporary majority, the Viennese kept things going before Bernard, but the Busters were able to eliminate the danger. Frederiklund was forced to leave the ice in the 55th minute after interfering with Stefansson. Stefansson reached the goal before Bernard, but failed twice. In the 56th minute, the next penalty kick was awarded for the obstruction, this time against Casastol. From then on, the Capitals had the majority twice for 53 seconds. The Capitals didn't hesitate for long as they faced off against a trio of Pustertalers, with Bernard first blocking a shot from Ticar, and Franklin pushing the exposed ball into the net. The referees checked the goal for South Tyrol, but the goal was withdrawn for reasons that were not explained. Casastol returned in the 57th minute. Vienna equalized shortly thereafter, with Caps' top scorer Cech scoring from the left facing circle. Stefansson was responsible for one of the two assists, meaning the 26-year-old scored a scoring point on his debut.

In the following extra time, Petan scored in the 62nd minute, but was saved by Ranchetz. Wenger's shot was blocked by Bernard. The South Tyrol player saved a shot from Kainz in the 63rd minute. There were no more iconic scenes in the rest of extra time.

In the penalty shootout, Hanoune dropped the visitors' first attempt. Heinrich shot the penalty wide. Frycklund then placed the game equipment in the Caps' goal. Tikar also sank the puck. David Morley's penalty was saved by Wraneschitz, and as Weinger did not put the ball in the net, the visitors were awarded the extra point. According to official statistics, spusu Vienna Capitals fired 35 shots at the opponent's goal, while Pustertal, whose goalkeeper Raniszcz has 30 caps, made 28 saves and thus a 93.3 percent capture rate.

spusu Vienna Capitals – HC Pustertal 2:3 after Sunday. (0:1, 1:1, 1:0, 0:0, 0:1)

Goal caps: Armin Preiser (39/PP1), Trevor Cech (57/PP1)

Health care goals: Christian Casastol (12), Dante Hannon (40), Mats Fryklund (65/PS)

Lineup Vienna Capitals

Goalkeepers: #30 Sebastian Ranschitz | #26 Stefan Steen

First line: #91 Dominik Heinrich, #25 Evan Wardley – #13 Trevor Cech, #89 Rock Tekkar, #78 Evan Winger

Second line: #5 Dominik Hackl, #33 Seamus Donohue – #19 Lucas Kainz, #14 Reed Stefansson, #61 Zane Franklin

Third line: #40 Bernhard Busch, #50 Mario Fischer – #8 Matthias Böhm, #10 Patrick Antal, #3 Armin Preiser

Fourth line: #60 Timo Ballerer – #69 Leon Widhalm, #96 Nicky Hartl, #2 Lucas Piffe

Statement by Bernhard Starkbaum, goalkeeper and video coach of spusu Vienna Capitals

“It was a tight game today. We had a few turnovers that took us out of rhythm. But we fought back and conceded 1-2 after a 1-1 draw. We deserved to equalize in the final third. I would also like to know from the referee why Zane Franklin's goal was disallowed. I saw the scene in the video, and the goalkeeper never had the safe puck, he immediately went out again. There was a bit of hitting on the schooner, but then a caning penalty had to be imposed. But just denying the goal is a questionable decision “For me. The referees decided that way, but we deserved a draw after that. Sebastian Ranchetz was finally able to play again today after a long time. He played a good game. We still need to improve the stick handling a little bit, but overall I'm happy with it.”

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