Znojmo wins in overtime, KAC smashed Graz, Linz humiliated Villach

02 Mar 2013 | Alan Ilijic

The other three games of the quarterfinals in EBEL were played on Friday night. In a dramatic finish in Austrian capital Znojmo got the first win over the Caps in the series. KAC got in the lead for the second time against Graz and Linz destroyed Villach.

Vienna - Znojmo 3:4 OT (Vienna lead series 2-1)

Znojmo is back in the game! The home team started strong and got the first lead through Francois Fortier on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Early in the second, Filip Landsman denies Fortier in a shorthanded situation. Then, in only seven minutes Znojmo scores three important goals: first Burke Henry skates around Matt Zaba's goal and passes the puck to Lubomir Stach who ties the game. An individual effort by Jan Lattner brings the Czechs the lead. Capitals' head coach Tommy Samuelsson took a timeout but that didn't help them. One minute after Adam Havlik finds the net, and then it looked like the Czechs are going to win this one easily. During the thrid period the Capitals controlled the game and Marcus Olsson beat Landsman on a powerplay to reduce the lead. Jamie Fraser ties the game once again in the last minutes of the game. In overtime Kim Strömberg scored on a rebound to win the game for the Eagles.

"It feels great, we deserved this win. A two-goal lead is the hardest situation in hockey, and we'll have to learn from that", happy was Strömberg after the game.

KAC - Graz 5:1 (KAC lead series 2-1)

KAC wanted to revenge for a huge 5:1 loss in Steyr three days before, and they wanted it in front of home fans. In the first few minutes they created some good opportunities but all were denied by Graz goalie Frederic Cloutier. Graz is known as a physical team so the game was very aggressive and physical. Two minutes prior to the first break John Lammers got KAC in the lead but only 101 seconds after, 8 seconds before break, Olivier Labelle scores a beauty to tie the game. Early in the second KAC is again in the lead, this time Jamie Lundmark is the scorer and six minutes later Lammers marks his second goal of the night for 3-1. Graz tried to fight back, though couldn't put the puck past René Swette who did a fantastic job. In the last 20 minutes KAC were able two score two more goals, Tyler Scofield and Kevin Doell sealed the deal.

Linz - Villach 5:0 (Linz lead series 2-1)

The Eagles from Villach looked powerless in Linz. The reigning champs started ambitious and were eager to get the lead. In the fourth minute Andy Hedlund hit the post. Roughly 5 minutes before the break Villach had a penalty shot, but Derek Ryan couldn't score. Although Linz outshot their opponents the first period remained scoreless. In the second period Linz made clear they are keen on scoring and winning tonight. Brett Engelhardt passed nicely to free Danny Irmen who had no problems putting the puck behind Jean-Philipe Lamoreaux. Marius Göhringer had two chances for Villach but missed by milimetres, which was punished by Rob Hisey who took the puck in the neutral zone and skated all alone towards Lamoreaux. A lot of posts were hit on both sides, even at the start of the final period. Marc Ande Dorion scored with a wristshot after Irmen hit another post. Three minutes before the end Villach pulled their goalie, so Engelhardt scores 4:0 for Linz. In the last second of the game Fabian Scholz scores another goal for Linz to make it 5:0.

Next games are scheduled for Sunday.