EBEL - round 26

KHL Medvescak Zagreb – EHC Liwest Black wings Linz  5:4 (0:3,3:0,1:1,0:0,1:0) p.s.

Sold out Dom sportova in Croatian capital Zagreb saw magnificent game last night. Medvescak’s ten wins in eleven games and Black wings’ nine points’ advantage on top of EBEL standings were announcement for a big game. And what a big game it was; home team was already three goals down during the first period, but recovered fully in the second! Medvescak put enormous pressure at the start of the game. Shots were fired from all positions and Alex Westlund had to perform really well in front of Linz’s net to keep his team leveled. Brian Lebler (Linz) was penalized for interference in 11^th minute, but nothing came out for home team. In fact, when Lebler came on the ice again, he was served with beautiful pass from Mike Ouellette (former Medvescak player) and he scored to put guests in the lead in 13^th minute (0:1). Fast counter attack from Gregor Baumgartner added another goal for Linz in 16^th minute (0:2). It was quite a shock for Bears: Geoff Waugh cross checked one of Linz players and was penalized in 18^th minute. It took only ten seconds or power play for Linz to add another goal – Pat Leahy was the scorer (0:3). Medvescak players were determined to reverse the score second period. They came on ice and forced guests to make mistakes. Pascal Morency (1:3) and Joel Prpic (2:3) scored two goals within 65 seconds in 22^nd and 23^rd minute and Dom sportova exploded in excitement and joy. It took another three minutes before Ryan Kinasewich equalized in 26^th (3:3). Linz concentrated on defense after that and no more goals were scored later during second period. Robert Kristan miraculously saved home team early in third period. It was time for Medvescak’s first lead: Dario Kostovic scored in 46^th minute (4:3) to complete home team’s turnover. Black wings answered in style: they equalized 52 seconds later when Brian Lebler scored his second of the night (4:4). Both teams were cautious after that and Kristan and Westlund kept their teams levelled as well. Overtime offered no goals neither and Frank Banham scored the decisive goal in penalty-shooting to give Medvescak well deserved 11^th win in 12 games. Home team remains third in EBEL, ten points behind leading Black wings Linz.

HDD Tilia Olimpija – EC Red bull Salzburg  5:6 (2:2,2:3,1:0,0:1) o.t.

Thomas Raffl opened scoring last night in Ljubljana in fifth minute (0:1). Home team missed several players and it seems JP Lamoreux in front of their goal is slowly losing his form. Red bulls controlled the game right from the start and they continued to do the same after first goal. However, fast break from home team leveled the score in 7^th minute when youngster Miha Verlic scored on rebound (1:1). Steven Regier put Bulls in front again after two minutes (1:2, PP). It took two shots to beat Lamoreux though. 5 on 3 situation for Olimpija later during the period didn’t change anything, Bulls defended well. Olimpija equalized anyway in 17^th minute when Matej Hocevar somehow managed to push the puck into Tordjman’s net (2:2). Ziga Pance failed to score for Olimpija on penalty-shot in 19^th minute. Doug Lynch renewed Salzburg’s lead in 22^nd minute (2:3), and Robbie Earls scored shorthanded goal in 27^th minute to extend guest’s lead (2:4). Ramzi Abid hit the post of JP Lamoreux’s goal to frighten home crowd, but it was Dragons who scored in 36^th minute (3:4). An equalizing goal for Olimpija was scored 56 seconds later only (4:4). Salzburg wasn’t in shock after that and Steven Regier scored his second power play goal seconds before end of second period (4:5). Home team captain Ziga Pance scored the only goal of third period (5:5) and game went into overtime. Daniel Welser scored for Salzburg after 24 seconds already (5:6) to give Salzburg deserved win. Red bulls are second with 32 points, Olimpija is fourth with 29.

Sapa Fehervar AV19 – EC KAC  3:1 (2:0,0:0,1:1)

Sapa was beaten in last four games and it seemed the team is losing their grip. But Hungarians proved it wrong: although KAC appeared without three important members of the team, win over KAC is always special. Andy Chiodo in front of guest’s net had to perform really well to keep his team levelled at the start of the game. Istvan Sofron scored anyway in 7^th minute to give Sapa well deserved lead (1:0). Guests did not apply any real pressure after and home team doubled the lead in 13^th minute when Derek Ryan scored (2:0). Second period offered spectators a bit more equal play. KAC begun to play better, but it was Sapa who was closer to another goal. KAC missed several nice goal scoring opportunities later during second period. Guests defended well at the beginning of last period, when they had two men of penalty bench. It was home goalie Adam Munro who saved Sapa on few occasions during next minutes. KAC scored their first goal in 55^th minute when Thomas Hundertpfund benefited on rebound (2:1). Guests were too eager to level the score and John Lammers had to go to penalty box for checking against Munro’s knee. Marton Vas’ one-timer decided the game in 56^th minute (3:1,PP). Sapa is on 7^th place with 25 points, KAC is fifth with 27.

UPC Vienna Capitals – HC Orli Znojmo  4:1 (1:0,3:0,0:1)

Surprise lost in Jesenice on Friday gave Vienna something to think about. They started the game concentrating on defense. As guests from nearby Znojmo didn’t apply any pressure as well, spectators were not too pleased with first minutes. Ross Lupaschuk scored 49 seconds before first intermission to give Vienna the lead though (1:0). Guests continued to play with no big ambitions and Vienna scored three goals in second period. Nathan Robinson was scorer in 27^th minute (2:0), Fillip Gunnarson added one on his own in 34^th minute. Francois Fortier scored fourth goal for Capitals in 38^th minute and the winner was known already. Vienna played as much as it was needed during last period. Peter Pucher scored consolation goal for guests from Czech Republic in 58^th minute (4:1,PP), but it was too late for Orli to do something more. Capitals are sixth in EBEL with 26 points, Orli are tenth with 19 points.

EC Rekord fenster VSV – HK Acroni Jesenice  6:0 (1:0,3:0,2:0)

Game between bottom placed teams took place last night in Villach. Jesenice came through tunnel on the other side of the Karavanke Mountain-chain with good result from Friday when they surprisingly won against Vienna Capitals. VSV on the other hand performed really well through whole November and they were strong favorites for the game. Guests from Slovenia were able to stop home team players with fouls only at the beginning of the game. Kevin Mitchell was first to benefit on guests’ penalties, as he scored PP2 goal in third minute. 5 on 3 situation on the other side was cleared by VSV players comfortably. Starkbaum in front of home net was already beaten later during the period, but post saved his team. Shane Toporowski finished quick break for VSV with another goal in 26^th minute (2:0). Ex-Acroni Jesenice star Tomaz Razingar scored on PP situation in 30^th minute to extend home team’s lead (3:0). Kevin Mitchell added his second of the night in 35^th minute (4:0) and the winner was already known. There were more chances to score for VSV until the end of second period, but Michal Fikrt saved it. VSV didn’t push forward so strong during last 20 minutes, but they managed to score two more goals anyway. Tomaz Razingar finished his solo effort by scoring shorthanded goal in 53^rd minute to show leading people in Jesenice why he is captain of Slovenian national team. Kyle Wanvig added sixth goal in 55^th minute to destroy guests completely. It was fifth consecutive VSV win. Bernhard Starkbaum also finished his fourth game in a row in Villach not conceding any puck enters his net. VSV is now up on eighth place with 20 points, Jesenice are on bottom with 17.

Schedule for round 27, Friday,December 2^nd:

Klagenfurt: EC KAC – KHL Medvescak

Ljubljana (SLO): Tilia Olimpija – Sapa Fehervar

Linz: Black wings Linz – EC VSV

Znojmo (CZE): HC Orli Znojmo – Graz 99ers

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