Salzburg stumbles in Graz

22 Sep 2012 | Dennis Mende

On Friday all away teams wasted their money as they all lost their matches.

On home ice EC VSV from Villach beat Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana with 5-2. After a 2-2 at the end of the first period, Klemen Pretnar twice and John Hughes made everything clear for the hosts who now have 9 points after 5 games and stay on the top position of the league.

They are followed by Czech side Orli Znojmo who won against last year's champion Black Wings Linz with a score of 3-2. Mike Ouellette in the 44th brought tension back to the game after Kim Strömberg, Peter Pucher and Jakub Stehlik had void the initial guest lead through Rob Hisey.

Innsbruck stays at the bottom of EBEL after losing 1-4 in Vienna against strong Capitals. With only 1 point in 5 matches and 10-25 goals HC Innsbruck still has to proof that they really have the qualities for the Austrian top competition.

Better is the situation for the co-newcomers EC Dornbirn who won a close game 4-2 at home against Hungarian side SAPA Fehervard AV19. Andre Kozek scored the game-winning third goal for Dornbirn immediately before the second intermission. An empty-netter by Niki Petrik in the last minute of play even increased the lead. Dornbirn gained their first win at home in EBEL and their second in total what places them at the 9th position, followed by the Hungarians at the 10th.

Alan Letang and Kyle Greentree had earned a 0-2 lead for KHL Medvscak Zagreb in Klagenfurt before the second intermission but after a nice race to catch up Thomas Koch and John Lammers tied the match in the third period. Tyler Spurgeon won the extra point for EC KAC as decisive goal scorer in the shootout.

Red Bull Salzburg couldn't continue their crazy form of last weekend where they scored 18 goals and let their opponents look like hobby players. In Graz they lost for the first time after three consecutive wins. Salzburg scored twice the equalizer but after 40 minutes the result was 4-2 for Graz. Ryan Kinasewich cut the lead to just one early in the third period but in the end Mathias Iberer ended all Red Bull hopes with a shot into the wide open net in the last minute of play.