Will the Wild Wings pay off at home against Straubing?
Expectations fulfilled – and still underdogs? The Straubing Tigers got the series off to a good start and sent the Schwenninger Wild Wings home with a 5:2 final score. The hosts of the first match thus confirmed Bet365’s expectations and lived up to their role as clear favorites. Nevertheless, Schwenningen are considered the more likely winners this time
Admittedly, the underdog role of the Tigers is extremely narrow. Nonetheless, the fact that Straubing surrendered their favorite status to Schwenningen after a 5-2 triumph speaks volumes about the danger of the Wild Wings in their home stadium.
As the most effective hosts in the German Ice Hockey League, head coach Steve Walker’s charges are now preparing to convert their concentrated home power into a play-off triumph and even up the series against the Gäubodenstädter. In the meetings between these two clubs so far this season, the team playing at home has always won.
However, it is precisely this circumstance between the Schwenninger Wild Wings and Straubing Tigers in Game 2 that makes a bet on Straubing’s next win unusually attractive. Even if the away team only wins in overtime, betting provider Betano pays out almost double the stake for betting tips on the two-way market. As if that wasn’t enough, the reliable provider has a welcome package with a 100% start bonus and a €20 free bet up its sleeve!
Schwenninger Wild Wings – Statistics & current form
On paper, no other DEL team offers as much potential as the Wild Wings to get back on track after a playoff start that went down the drain away from home. Schwenningen was the best home team in the German Ice Hockey League in the main round, but suffered from a considerable performance discrepancy away from home. While the Swans only lost six times at home, a total of 17 defeats from 26 games in rival stadiums resulted in twelfth place in the away table.
It is also striking that the Wild Wings score more than twice as many goals on foreign soil as in the Helios Arena. 45 goals scored against Schwenningen at home compared to 100 goals scored against them at home! Will it be a similar picture in the quarter-finals or do the playoffs have different rules?
Schwenninger Wild Wings have to do without top scorer Karachun
Even if the immense home power of the Wild Wings provides optimism against the traveling Lower Bavarians, the supposed advantage of the home side should be viewed with caution. On the one hand, Schwenningen are weak in terms of puck possession with an average of 26.83 percent and are only beaten by Düsseldorf in a league comparison. Against the Tigers’ powerful style of play, weaknesses in game control can quickly prove fatal.
On the other hand, the Wild Wings’ top scorer picked up a major penalty at the end of the first playoff duel, including a game-misconduct penalty. Attacker Alexander Karachun, who alongside fellow forward Kyle Platzer is Schwenningen’s top scorer (43 points), is therefore suspended for Game 2 and will have to sit out.
Nevertheless, it has to be said that the defeat against the Tigers was deserved, but also promising. Although the Wild Wings ultimately let the butter be taken off their bread, they also showed several times that they can regularly seize the momentum in the duel with the storming Tigers. Will the Schwenninger Wild Wings equalize the series at home against the Straubing Tigers in line with the bookmakers’ forecast?
Straubing Tigers – Statistics & current form
The Straubing Tigers have one thing in common with the Wild Wings: coach Tom Pokel’s squad is as strong as a bear at home. With 21 wins from 26 duels and just one point less than Schwenningen, the team from the Gäubodenstadter are in second place in the main round home table. It was precisely this strength at the Pulverturm that the Tigers impressively demonstrated at the start of the series. Although the Wild Wings played a good game and controlled the match in places, Straubing took a deserved win.
The first period was particularly competitive and did not allow any conclusions to be drawn as to who would ultimately come out on top. It wasn’t until the second period that the goal boxes started to ring – and they really did. Lipon gave the home side a 1:0 lead after just under seven minutes. Less than three minutes later, Mattinen and Lipon again made the fans cheer with a brace within 50 seconds.
Schwenningen striker Brown tied the scores at 3:1 before the break. In the final period, Karachun, who was suspended for the upcoming game, reduced the deficit to 3:2, but ultimately nobody could prevent the devastating but not necessarily dominant 5:2 final score. Are the bookmakers right with their odds for the clash between the Schwenninger Wild Wings and the Straubing Tigers and will the Pokel protégés have more difficulties away from home?
Can Schwenningen cope with the Tigers’ excellent penalty-killing?
Unlike the home side, Straubing have performed acceptably on the road during the regular season. Sixth in the away table, the Tigers have managed to pick up 36 points from eleven wins in 26 encounters. However, the results achieved by the Lower Bavarian team on foreign soil in the final phase of the main round have left the fans with worry lines on their foreheads. Straubing have only won once in their last seven away games.
However, Schwenningen now offers the opportunity to profitably exploit the absence of the Wild Wings’ top scorer and compensate for their own weaknesses away from home. With the best shorthanded efficiency in the league (88.27 per cent) and the second-highest powerplay scoring rate (21.77 per cent), the Tigers, who play with pressure, have a solid foundation to dash the hosts’ hopes of leveling the series at home.
Although the Gäubodenstädter won the first clash of the best-of-seven series and are therefore traveling with a tailwind, German bookmakers see the Schwenninger Wild Wings as having a slight advantage against the Straubing Tigers with odds of 2.45 for a win in regulation time. The visiting Lower Bavarians, on the other hand, are given a 51.3 percent chance of extending their lead in the series in potential overtime at the latest
Schwenninger Wild Wings – Straubing Tigers head-to-head comparison / H2H result
In the first match of the series between the Schwenninger Wild Wings and Straubing Tigers, the prediction of the best betting providers has been confirmed. The visiting Gäubodenstädter lead the series 1:0. This continues the trend of the main round, where the home team always prevails between the two teams. This season, the Tigers have a 3-2 win record against the Wild Wings. Will the visiting team win for the first time on Tuesday?
Schwenninger Wild Wings – Straubing Tigers betting tip
The Straubing Tigers took the ice as clear favorites in their first playoff clash with the Wild Wings. Schwenningen were beaten as expected, but delivered a promising performance despite the 5:2 defeat. The Lower Bavarians got the series off to a good start. Nonetheless, the team from Gäuboden will arrive as a wafer-thin underdog this time
The fact that the Wild Wings are considered the narrow favorites is indicative of the overwhelming home strength of the home side. Even though Schwenningen showed excellent approaches against Straubing’s powerful style of play in the first encounter, it must be remembered that the Tigers do not have to compensate for such a huge performance discrepancy away from home as the Swans. What’s more, the hosts will be without Alexander Karachun, their top scorer, in Game 2
