Milano's tour de force continues. After picking up a third win in as many games in Feldkirch on Wednesday night, the team travelled by bus to Budapest to begin another action-packed weekend. Tomorrow evening at 6:30 pm (live on Sporteurope), the Rossoblu take on FTC Telekom, the hockey section of the historic Ferencváros multi-sports club, in a game that is hard to read. The Hungarians have played only once so far, a 5-3 home loss to Ljubljana, so they will certainly be fresher than Milano. "We'll still have the chance to loosen our legs at the morning skate," says Tommaso Madaschi, "and we'll be ready." On Wednesday, the 21-year-old from the Aosta Valley scored his first ICE goal: "It's very satisfying, but what always matters are the three points. The other night we dominated the first period, but then we adapted to their pace and took some risks late in the game. That's a mistake we can't repeat tomorrow."
Heading up the Danube, the team will stop in Vienna on Saturday to face the Capitals at 7:15 pm. The two sides already met in preseason, with Milano winning 5-4.
In the standings, the Rossoblu share first place with Klagenfurt, both with a perfect record. The special teams have performed well so far: the power play is above 27% and the penalty kill above 83%. Smith is posting a .951 save percentage. McLaughlin and Hannoun lead the team in scoring with 4 points each (3+1). Numbers to be updated, hopefully for the better, over 24 hours of hockey passion.
