Milano picked up a second win in 48 hours by taking the Linz AG Arena, and remain perfect in this surprising start to the season. In the 4-0 win over the Black Wings Linz, Jake Smith was once again outstanding between the pipes, making 30 saves for his first shutout in the red-and-blue jersey. With the net locked down, the power play did the rest: three goals with the man advantage, two of them from Blake McLaughlin, who confirmed the form he showed with his goal in Innsbruck.
Never change a winning team: Head Coach Shedden kept the same line-up, still without Allison. Linz pushed harder in the first period, but Milano gave the impression of having matters under control. The red-and-blues failed to convert their first two power plays of the night but still took the lead through Pietroniro's close-range diagonal shot, which beat a less than flawless Wells. The second period followed a similar pattern: Linz tried to build, Milano capitalised. Smith even made the scoresheet, with the assist on McLaughlin's goal, which came after a series of basketball-style screens from his teammates and ended with a shot into the bottom corner. The knockout blow arrived in the third period, again from the young American forward, who unleashed an unstoppable one-timer into the top corner. The fourth goal, again on the power play, rewarded Hannoun's cunning, found with surgical precision by Grant for a close-range tap-in.
Linz had to give way to a Milano side that were very well organised on the ice and technically superior. In their first-ever appearance on DAZN, the red-and-blues showed genuinely interesting potential. On Wednesday, another away trip in Austria, to Feldkirch to face the Pioneers: another tricky fixture, but not an impossible one.
Steinbach Black Wings Linz – Milano HC 0-4 (0-1; 0-1; 0-2)
Goals: 1st period 15:45 Pietroniro (M); 2nd period 6:26 McLaughlin (M) PP; 3rd period 2'35" McLaughlin (M) PP, 5:54 Hannoun (M) PP.
Full game sheet: https://ice.hockey/stats/
