EBEL - fifth round review

EC KAC – Moser Medical Graz 99ers  8:3 (4:2,3:1,1:0)

»Rekordmeister« as they call the team from Klagenfurt (KAC) is in daunting form at the beginning of the season. Last night they won their fourth game in a row and they didn’t lose a point yet in this year’s EBEL season. Their opponents from Graz on the other hand lost four out of five games and are desperate to find better form. KAC scored three times already in the first nine minutes of the game. 99ers were forced to change a goalie, but it didn’t help. KAC actually won every single period of the game, comfortably won the game 8:3 and is once again on the top of the league standings.

EC Red Bull Salzburg – EC Rekord Fenster Villach  6:4 (2:1,2:2,2:1)

Champions from Salzburg won their third game in a row and seem to be in good form after disaster in a first round in Klagenfurt. They won last night’s game against surprisingly good Villach. Not without any trouble though. Red Bulls were twice in front of the opponents with two goals lead, but Villach managed to came back. Luckily for the home team Rob Earl scored his second PP goal of the night in 54^th minute and that decided the game. Villach was trying to level the score without a goalie in the last moments of the game and Salzburg scored once again in a dying moments. Villach now has three defeats in five games.

Sapa Fehervar AV19 – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz  5:6 (3:1,2:1,0:3,0:0,0:1)

Hungarian champions from Szekesfehervar missed a good opportunity to win for the third time in five games last night. They were comfortably in front of guests from Linz – the score shield after two periods was 5:2 for Sapa. Linz managed to score shorthanded goal in 49^th minute and all went down the hill for Sapa. Curtis Murphy scored power play goal in a 56^th minute during 5 on 3 situation on ice. As that wasn’t enough for the home team Danny Irmen managed to push the puck over the goal line in a dying seconds of the match to level the score. Overtime didn’t decide a winner and penalty shoot out was sealed by a decisive goal from Mike Ouellette who is the leading scorer in the league. Linz now has four wins in five rounds, scoring 25 times already.

HDD Tilia Olimpija Ljubljana – HC Orli Znojmo  4:1 (2:0,1:0,1:1)

Olimpija proved a good start in a season last night in Tivoli ice ring. Two quick PP” goals in 3^rd and 4^th minute defined the course of the game. Znojmo was playing better after that giving home goalie many opportunities to prove his qualities. Power play did not produce anything for Znojmo at the beginning of the 2/3 and Olimpija scored for the 3^rd time in 25^th minute. Guests from Czech Republic managed to catch 0:3 gap twice already this season, but not last night. Powerplay goal was once again a success for Olimpija in 42^nd. Znojmo scored a consolation goal in PP2 situation in 45^th minute, but didn’t manage to get any closer. Olimpija is now on a position Nr.3 and is enjoying a good start of the season. Znojmo lost for the second time in four games, but proved to be strong opposition to every team in the league.

UPC Vienna Capitals – KHL Medvescak Zagreb  2:3 (0:0,1:0,1:2,0:0,0:1)

Something’s wrong in Vienna. Capitals cannot win a home game. Last night’s match was their third this season’s home game. Capitals were leading the score shield 2:0 during the last period, but guests from Croatian capital managed to came back and level the score seven seconds before the final buzzer. Overtime did not offer any goals and the game was decided with penalty shooting. Medvescak managed to sneak two points from Vienna for their second win in four games, leaving Vienna Capitals with only one point won on home ice. Vienna however has 5 points and has another chance for a home win on Sunday against Acroni Jesenice who are currently without points on the last place of league standings.

Schedule for 6^th round, Sunday ,September 25^th

Graz: Moser Medical Graz 99ers – HC Orli Znojmo

Villach: EC Rekord Fenster Villach – KHL Medvescak Zagreb

Vienna: UPC Vienna Capitals – HK Acroni Jesenice

Salzburg: EC Red Bull Salzburg – HDD Tilia Olimpija Ljubljana

Klagenfurt: EC KAC – Sapa Fehervar AV19

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