Last home game?

The lights should not go out in the Bunker yet!

In Graz, the team wants to celebrate advancing to the semi-finals on Friday evening.

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

The 99ers could eliminate the Black Wings Linz at home in the Bunker on Friday (7.30 pm). Lukas Haudum is relying on the fans and the virtues of his own forward line to ensure that the game does not become the last home game of the season.

Sold out within a very short time! That was the Merkur Eisarena when the 99ers missed their first match puck in Linz at the Black Wings on Tuesday evening. "It was a big goal of the club to fill the bunker again. Now we realize what we've already achieved this year," attests star forward Lukas Haudum. "The atmosphere at our home games was already good at the start of the season, but it was nice to see how the hall filled up more and more. Because then there's a mega atmosphere!" enthuses the national player.

Wrapping up a place in the semi-finals
And the 99ers will also need this atmosphere on Friday evening (19:30) if they want to seal the deal against the Black Wings in their second attempt to win a quarter-final series for only the second time in the club's history. Because in the event of a defeat, they would have to return to Linz for a decisive seventh game.

"And the away games against the Black Wings were the toughest in the entire league," says Haudum. "Because of the fans and a team that is physically very strong and really shows that in front of their own fans."

We sometimes have more of the play at five-on-five, but Linz create extremely dangerous things from fewer chances. They can make a lot out of very little.

Lukas Haudum, 99ers-Stürmer

So far, four of the five games have been close decisions in extra time. Why do the two teams neutralize each other so much? "We sometimes have more of the play at five against five, but Linz create extremely dangerous things from fewer chances. They can get a lot out of very little," says Haudum.

What the 99ers are still missing
In the video study before the last home game of the series, the focus was primarily on the behavior in the offensive zone: "Linz has the necessary presence in front of goal. We move well, but stand around the outside a bit too much. But sometimes you need more to score goals, a shot with a good deflection in front of goal is enough."

If we get their two lines under control, then the game turns to our side.

Lukas Haudum, 99ers-Stürmer

Where Graz has a clear advantage is the balance of the lines. While for the Black Wings only the first two forward lines score for the most part, every line of the Graz team is capable of scoring. "That's our great strength," says Haudum. "If we get their two lines under control, then the game turns to our side."

Postscript: "And if you want to go all the way to the end of the season, you need four strong lines anyway," says Haudum with a wink. So that Friday's match is by no means the last home game of the season.