Milano Hockey Club opened their home account with a 4-1 defeat to a well-organised Innsbruck side, who took the win on the road by growing into the game and punishing Milano’s mistakes.
The atmosphere was festive and joyful for Milano’s first home game. With the two captains, Scott Valentine for the hosts and Marcel Witting for the visitors, lined up at centre ice, the ceremonial opening face-off made a big impression. The puck was dropped by Ignazio La Russa, President of the Italian Senate; Andrea Abodi, Minister for Sport and Youth; Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano; and Christof Leitner, President of Milano Hockey Club.
FIRST PERIOD: 1-1. New Swedish forward Lindquist made his Milano debut on the third line with Frycklund and Chiodo. Allison, Finoro and Houde were still unavailable. The intensity was high from the very first strides. Caamano drove the net, but Innsbruck goaltender Harvey held on to the puck straight away. Shortly afterwards, Frycklund was caught in the face by an opponent’s skate during a battle, but no call was made. He returned to the ice later in the first period. Milano kept moving the puck and controlled play but struggled to make it count. Dal Colle set up Albis with a nice play to break over the blue line. Innsbruck answered with the Sharks’ most dangerous attack of the period, which Smith managed to defuse. At 6:00, Madaschi broke away from the blue line on the counter, but Harvey made the pad save. The first penalty at the Fiera Ice Arena went against Milano: Valentine took two minutes for elbowing. Innsbruck threatened through Macierzynski, but Smith deflected his low shot. On Milano’s next rush, at even strength, came the first goal ever scored in the new arena. McKegg took the puck at speed through the neutral zone and threw it towards the front of the Austrian net. After a lucky bounce, helped along by McKegg himself, the puck went in off the blade of Kostner’s skate. The officials ruled it a good goal without even going to video review. On the hosts’ only mistake, however, Innsbruck punished Milano straight away. Smith sent the puck up for Wylie, who couldn’t control it. Davies pounced immediately and beat Smith at the near post with a quick shot, levelling the score with 91 seconds left in the period. The first period ended all square.
SECOND PERIOD: 0-1. Innsbruck got a few pucks towards Smith without creating any real chances. Cuglietta and Pietroniro caused chaos in front of the Austrian net, and as the minutes passed Milano tried to take control again. Dal Colle, Kostner and Albis combined well, but the shot went high. This was a key phase of the game. Both teams skated hard in search of the go-ahead goal, and both goaltenders looked sharp on several long-range shots. Midway through the period, the visitors pushed forward. Davies and Macierzynski created a couple of dangerous chances. At the other end, Caamano got free for a shot but was hauled down, earning the red-and-blues the first power play of the night. Caamano then shook off the Austrian defenders again but couldn’t beat Harvey with an awkward backhand. Soon after the teams returned to even strength, Canadian sniper Owre, a former ICE MVP, faked a pass and scored on a shot in stride to give the Tyroleans the lead (34:06). Neither team took many risks for the rest of the period, and the visitors went to the second intermission a goal up after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD: 0-2. Milano went on their second power play of the night after Owre tripped McKegg. But Innsbruck’s penalty kill struck right away. With the puck loose in the neutral zone, Connor Mayer sent a lightning-quick pass up to the blue line for Justin Richards. Richards skated into the Milano zone and unleashed a powerful shot that gave the Austrians their third goal. Milano tried to respond, but the Sharks stayed very organised. Grant and Albis tried to force the pace, to no avail. Pietroniro also looked for a deflection in front of the net. As expected, the ice opened up. In the second half of the period, a series of penalties gave the hosts 29 seconds of a 5-on-3. Coach Shedden pulled the goalie to play 6-on-3, but Innsbruck held firm. Marcel Witting then hit the empty net with 76 seconds left to seal a 4-1 win for the visitors.
On Sunday, Milano are back at home for the great classic against Bolzano in a sold-out Fiera Ice Arena.
