Capitals Coach Stewart: "We shot ourselves in the foot"

The Viennese end their short winning streak after many unforced errors in Linz. Coach Mike Stewart is frustrated afterwards.

Source text: © LAOLA1

from Maximilian Girschele

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With three wins under their belt, the Vienna Capitals traveled to Linz for the top-of-the-table clash against Black Wings Linz, but their streak was broken with a 1-4 loss in the Steel City. Match report >>>

The Viennese only have themselves to blame for the defeat after many unforced errors, which the hosts exploited clinically.

Head Coach Mike Stewart also knows this: "We shot ourselves in the foot today. There's no question how hard the boys worked. But some decisions today were suboptimal."

"Unnecessary errors" lead to 0-2 deficit

The game could have taken a completely different turn if Shane Gersich had converted his top chance in the eleventh minute.

Instead, the Black Wings scored the 0-1 goal directly on the counter-attack, and five minutes later, Oskar Maier, completely alone in the slot, added the 0-2.

Stewart says: "We fell 0-2 behind due to two unnecessary errors."

Only one-way traffic

In the middle period, the Capitals were pressing, at times pinning the Upper Austrians in their defensive zone.

"Wenn wir gewinnen wollen, brauchen wir einen entschlosseneren Auftritt."

Capitals-Coach Mike Stewart

Simon Bourque's goal to cut the deficit was the logical consequence, but despite a shot ratio of 15:5, it remained the only goal.

"It was only one-way traffic," says Stewart. "We had some top chances, shots off the post, and fought our way back into the game."

Sloppy with the puck

In the final period, his team was a bit sloppy with the puck at the start, emphasizes the Austro-Canadian.

Then Linz capitalized on two individual errors by Bourque and Scott Kosmachuk, thereby securing the 1-4 final score. In the closing minutes, Felix Koschek's supposed 2-4 goal was also disallowed.

"That also cost us momentum," explains the coach, adding, annoyed: "If we want to win, we need a more determined performance."

On Sunday, in the home game against champions Graz (2:45 PM in the LIVE ticker >>>), there's a chance to get back on the winning track.