EBEL: Revenge is sweet

Villach fired head coach Hannu Järvenpää before the international break, replacing him with Greg Holst. Holst, who already coached the Carinthinans to a championship title in 2006, brought fresh air into the locker room. In his first three games back as head coach of Villach, his team responded with two wins, including a road victory in Salzburg and an impressive 4:0-win over the Vienna Capitals.

Only three days after Villach shut out the Caps, the Capitals were eager for a rematch on home ice. The vice champion also proved their intention with a strong performance in the first twenty minutes of play. The guest’s goaltender JP Lamoureux was clearly the best player on his team, despite the Caps’ 2-0 lead after the first period. Rafael Rotter’s slap shot and MacGregor Sharp’s deflection, both on the man advantage, were the only pucks to pass by the American net minder.

VSV knew they had to show more if they wanted a chance to earn points in the 22^nd Viennese district. After killing off a penalty, the Eagles created their first real scoring opportunities.  Though, also Nathan Lawson proved to be a reliable goalie with two important saves on Brock McBride and Matt Kelly.

The Capitals found their game again and in the 41^st minute Florian Iberer beat Lamoureux for the 3-0 lead. Villach tried the impossible comeback, but with 51 seconds left only managed to spoil Lawson’s shutout thanks to a wraparound by 18 year old Christian Jennes. A special goal for the young forward, who for the first time was able to put the puck behind the net on the professional level.

Thanks to those three points, the Capitals are now tied with Bolzano, who surprisingly lost in Ljubljana, on sixth place. Overall, the race for the top six positions is still hardly competitive. After half of the regular season, league leader Red Bull is only 9 points ahead of eight seeded Alba Volan Fehervar. For Villach, Innsbruck and Graz a direct qualification to the post season seems unlikely now, but there still is much hockey to be played.

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