Not Sharp enough: Penguins waddle away with a wi(e)n

The first period overall did though not offer the most attractive hockey. Lots of penalties taken by both teams meant the special units got lots of ice time, which slowed the game down significantly. During Krefeld’s first power play MacGregor Sharp proved his reputation as one of the best two-way-forwards in EBEL, doing a fantastic job to help his team survive the first of many PK-situations. Istvan Sofron had the first real chance for the Penguins, deking out Vienna’s defenceman with a gorgeous between-the-legs move, but the 27 year old Hungarian could not beat goalkeeper Nathan Lawson.

The Caps could not capitalize on 46 seconds of two man advantage, even though Derek Whitmore had two excellent chances in the slot area and so the game was scoreless after 20 minutes of play.

The game opened up a bit in the second period with the Capitals pressuring in the first few minutes, even though Daniel Pietta had the biggest chance on the counter attack. Lawson had to be ready again when, in the 23^rd minute, he denied Henrik Eriksson with an amazing glove save.

In the 26^th minute the 3400 Austrian fans witnessed the first goal of the game: On a 2-on-1 situation Rafael Rotter gave a perfect cross-ice pass to Matt Dzieduszycki, who was able to beat the sprawling Tomas Duba.

Vienna’s 3^rd line with Andreas Nödl, Daniel Bois and MagGregor Sharp as center man created the next two good opportunities for the Capitals, both denied by the Czech goalkeeper Duba. In the 37^th minute Krefeld was on a 5-on-3 power play situation, but neither David Fischer nor Nicolas St. Pierre could not score from the point.

With 32 seconds to go in the middle frame, Christian Kretschmann’s backhander found the way over Lawson’s shoulder to tie the game up for the ‘Pinguine’, leading the way for an exciting finish.

The home team though was not happy with situation and had a strong start into the third period. Dzieduszycki was alone in front of Duba, but missed the net by centimeters. In the 44^th minute the Caps got rewarded, as Jamie Fraser’s hammer from the blue line got deflected by captain and topscorer Jonathan Ferland to give Vienna the 2:1 lead. The Caps wanted to use the momentum to add one more, but Whitmore’s shot went wide.

Except for some traffic in front of Lawson in the 49^th minute Krefeld was not able to create any real danger, but in hockey one shot can change everything. With 28 seconds left in regulation time Daniel Pietta somehow found an open space in the slot and beat Lawson blocker side, painfully forcing the home team fans to watch 5 minutes of bonus hockey.

In the extra 5 minutes of play both teams had the opportunity to decide the game on the man advantage, but the goalies would not allow any more goals. In the shootout Eriksson and Collins opened up the scoring, but Vienna tied it up with MacGregor Sharp forcing the final showdown sending the puck top-shelf. On his second attempt though, he misplayed the puck and Eriksson decided the game with the 12^th shootout, giving the Germans the extra point.

Vienna and Krefeld will meet again on Thursday, this time in Germany. If Krefeld wins in regulation time, the Germans will qualify for the playoffs, regardless of the result of the Oulu – Vienna game next Saturday.

Shootout: MacGregor Sharp (Vienna Capitals) goes top-shelf on Tomas Duba (Krefeld Pinguine)

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