Fejerav AV19 beat Black Wings Linz 4:3 in the opening round of the Ice Hockey League on Thursday evening. The hosts took the three points right from the start of the season, while the visitors started with a loss despite arriving on the back of some solid results. It was a tight affair from the first whistle.
We had tipped the away side to win, with 47 percent confidence in the prediction, but the match went another way. And here's the thing — Linz had looked comfortable in their last outing, a 4:0 victory over Villach, so the result came as a surprise. The home team, meanwhile, had mixed form coming in, including that narrow 4:3 win over Kosice back in August.
By then, both sides were still searching for identity in this new season. The hosts sat fifth in the table after one game, while Linz were sixth — but with zero points on the board for either team, the standings tell you very little. To be fair, it was only the opening day, and these positions will shift as the campaign progresses.
What stands out is the scoreline itself. Four goals to three suggests a match that stayed close throughout, with neither side able to pull away completely. The visitors came for a cross he never reached — or rather, came for chances they couldn't quite convert. Fejerav threw everything at it in the closing stages, and that pressure told.
The result means the hosts move clear at the top of the early standings, while Linz will need to regroup quickly. They had beaten Regensburg 3:2 just a week earlier, so they weren't without confidence. But this was a different proposition, and the home side proved too much on this occasion.
