Wednesday 30 September at the Heidi Horten-Arena in Klagenfurt (7.15pm): the top-of-the-table clash of Round 6. Live streaming on Sporteurope.TV
KLAGENFURT – Milano Hockey Club face the big match of Round 6 of the win2day ICE Hockey League tomorrow, Wednesday 30 September, at the Heidi Horten-Arena in Klagenfurt. Face-off is at 7.15pm, live on Sporteurope.TV. The league's top two sides meet on the ice: EC-KAC lead the standings with a perfect 15 points, while Milano sit second on 12 after the opening five rounds.
KAC come into the game unbeaten. They have won all five of their games this season in regulation time, with the league's best attack (29 goals scored) and just 9 goals conceded, for a goal difference of +20. That run includes a recent 6-2 win over reigning champions Graz. Milano have answered with four wins from five games, scoring 18 goals and conceding 10. Their ICE campaign opened with a 3-1 win in Innsbruck. A 4-0 victory in Linz followed, with a shutout for Jacob Smith, and then a 5-4 win over the Pioneers Vorarlberg in Feldkirch. Their only defeat came in Budapest (3-0 against FTC-Telekom). Last Saturday the Rossoblù bounced back with an emphatic 6-2 win away to the Vienna Capitals.
It will be the first competitive meeting between the two clubs. The sides have already met on the same ice on 25 August, in the opening game of the pre-season WellCard Trophy. KAC won 2-0, with both goals coming in the third period from Travis St. Denis and Tobias Sablattnig.
Milano will be without Allison. The Carinthians are missing goaltender Dahm, forward Schwinger and long-term absentees Hudson and Hochegger.
Young goaltender Edoardo Berti, who made his ICE debut in Vienna on Saturday, previews the game: "You could already see in August that they were in great shape, that they were already a well-drilled team. We were only just starting out and still getting to know each other, while you could see they were a tight-knit group and everything was working well for them. I expected them to be strong, though honestly not +20 in goal difference after five games, but we can go there and compete. Three days' rest, at the pace we've been playing lately, feels like two weeks! I think we'll have our chances." On his debut at the neuro.io arena in Vienna, Berti adds: "No particular nerves, I knew I had nothing to lose. I went in, enjoyed myself and just thought about playing. My teammates helped me a lot, and then in front of 5,000 people you feel happy, you play and you don't overthink it."
Klagenfurt is the first of three consecutive away games for Milano, who then travel to Villach and Salzburg. The home debut at the Fiera Ice Arena follows on 9 October. Tickets are on sale on Ticketmaster.
