EBEL - 36th round

UPC Vienna Capitals – HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana 4:5 (0:0, 3:1, 1:4)
Olimpija’s last night's win in Wien was possibly crucial in the fight for the sixth place. Vienna trailing three points before the game needed the win desperately. Home team started furiously, setting good goal scoring opportunities one after another. Unfortunately for them, there was young Slovenian goal keeper Matija Pintaric in front of guests’ goal. Guests were forced to defend.  They only had few breakaways and Ales Music hit the post on one of such occasions. Second period offered pretty much the same picture: Vienna attacking, guests defending, being dangerous on fast breaks. Pat Kavanagh scored first for Vienna in 29th minute power play (1:0).  Guests surprised home defence and equalized two minutes later (1:1).  They also began to play with more ambitions in attack.  Anyway, Nathan Robinson and Francois Fortier both scored for Vienna inside 70 seconds in 37th and 38th minute (2:1,3:1). What happened in final third was something else: guests came on ice determined to turn the result. They came closer in 43rd minute (3:2) and equalized in 46th minute PP (3:3). Jonathan Ferland put Vienna in front once again in 49th minute PP2 situation (4:3), but guests answered two minutes later (4:4). When Justin Taylor scored in PP for Olimpija in 52nd minute (4:5) self-confidence of Capitals faded. They played last two minutes with extra skater, trying to equalize, but guests defended their lead. Olimpija is now comfortable on sixth place, five points in front of Capitals on seventh.

HK Acroni Jesenice – EC Red Bull Salzburg 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0)
Surprise in Jesenice! Bankrupt home team won the game against richest team in the league! Officials of home team forbid Jesenice fans to give players 13.000 EUR they gathered before New Year. They did it anyway and were punished by not letting them run fan shop any further and not letting them enter the ice hall with fan drums. Before of the game the 1200 spectators was scared Jesenice might be destroyed; Red bulls were flying on ice, combining and forcing home team youngsters to defend by any means necessary. Salzburg scored in 3rd minute PP (0:1). First five minutes passed by mostly in home teams defending third of the ice. It was 5th minute when players in red (Acroni Jesenice) first came with a chance in front of Salzburg's goal. Few actions one after another and the youngsters equalized – it was Jure Dolinsek, substitute captain of HK Jesenice who did it (1:1) in 6th minute. Guests were rough on occasions and referees didn’t protect players –  there were many “boo’s” and whistles from the crowd. Second period offered pretty much the same: many pucks were shot from all positions towards home goal, but Gasper Kroselj was very confident and focused in front of it. Jure Dolinsek scored another goal in 27th minute to give Jesenice the lead (2:1,PP). It was his second rebound goal of the night. Guests were offered obvious help by referees, giving penalties to home team one after another. PP2 and PP situations for Salzburg were unused and the guests became nervous. Referees were given cynical applause at the beginning of third period. Red Bulls continued the siege of home goal and Steelers focused on defending. Gasper Kroselj performed miracles in front of his net and was well supported by his team. Guests were given another two PP opportunities in last ten minutes, but they couldn’t equalize. Antti Pusa was on his knees on ice two seconds before the end when Ramzi Abid hit him with a stick and they both fist fighted after that. They were both given 5 minutes of penalty for roughing. Dolinsek as captain of home team protested and was “awarded” with 10 minutes penalty for misconduct. HKJ won against current EBEL and Euro-champions despite obvious discriminate refereeing. They are however still on bottom of the league, trailing Znojmo by one point. Salzburg holds second position, 12 points behind Linz.

Moser Medical Graz99ers – EC KAC 5:3 (3:2, 1:1, 1:0)
99ers proved good form last night. On the other hand, KAC players are out of form, that’s obvious. 3700 fans gathered in Graz on New Year’s Day. EC KAC came in front in 6th minute (0:1) despite Graz being the better side in first few minutes. 99ers equalized in the same minute (1:1). They came in front in 9th (2:1), but then LAC equalized in 12th minute (2:2). 99ers continued to threaten and were awarded in 16th minute power play (3:2). Home team was also dominant in second period and they extended the lead in 33rd minute (4:2). They were trying to decide the game with another goal, but made unforced defensive mistake in the same minute and KAC came closer once again (4:3). KAC players felt there’s a chance to do more and were more aggressive in third period. They hit the post of Graz’s goal on one occasion and were close to equalizer on few other shots. Anyway, Graz managed to score in 47th minute (5:3) and the shock for gusts was too big to produce anything significant until the end of the game. Graz is now up one place (8th), but there’s a big gap between them and Olimpija in 6th place (6 points). EC KAC thanks to good form earlier in the season still holds fourth place in EBEL, but Sapa and Olimpija are only one point behind.

EC VSV – SAPA Fehervar AV19 0:4 (0:2, 0:1, 0:1)
Third consecutive crucial game lost for VSV! Well organized Hungarian champions surprised home team in with a goal already in fifth minute (0:1). Home players in shock conceded another goal in the 7th minute, and it was short-handed goal for guests (0:2). Nothing went VSV’s way after that. Sapa focused on defence after that, giving home team no chance to score. Eagles (VSV) were better during second period, but totally ineffective. Bence Balisz who played in goal for the guests was very good, too. On the other hand, Sapa used PP situation in 32nd minute to extend the lead (0:3). In fact, it was a big luck for Sapa as Gerhard Unterluggauer deflected oncoming puck into his own net. Mike Stewart, VSV coach changed lines in final third in desperate attempt to change things on ice. Not that VSV players didn’t try to impose their style, but they deflected off of the wall by the name of Bence Balisz on all occasions. On the other side, Balasz Ladanyi was effective in 56th minute – his one-timer ended up in Bernhard Starkbaum’s top corner (0:4). VSV are now one place down to ninth place (30 points) and are probably out of the race for sixth place as they trail Olimpija by seven points. Sapa remains fifth, levelled with Olimpija (both teams have now 37 points), point behind EC KAC on fourth.

EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz – HC Orli Znojmo 3:2 (1:0, 1:1, 1:1)
Black wings, being dominant as they are in this season – gave fans their first season’s win over Orli in the fourth game between the teams. Not that it was easy for them, though. Lorenz Hirn stood up in front home goal, home coach giving Alex Westlund some rest before crucial part of the season. Black Wings lost their last 2011 game in Ljubljana and were eager to perform well in front of home crowd. Mike Ouellette opened the scoring in power play in 8th minute (1:0), being served perfect by Patrick Leahy. As all previous games between Linz and Orli, the game was up and down, both goalies forced to show their skills. Fans were delighted by entertaining hockey. Linz pushed forward in the second period, too, but Orli didn’t give up. They defended well and were dangerous themselves. Black Wings failed to score on three really nice goal scoring opportunities before Danny Irmen scored in 32nd minute power play (2:0). It was all Linz after that. Pucks were flying towards Orli’s goal, nice combinations were seen and applauses were heard.  As everyone expected the third puck in guest’s goal during Linz’s power play, Lorenz Hirn was negligent in front of the home net and guests came closer in 39th minute (2:1). Both teams were determinet to do their job in final period: Orli were trying to equalize and Black Wings were trying to decide the game. Home team was first to score in 53rd minute (3:1), but the Czechs didn’t give up. They came closer once again in the 57th minute, when Lubomir Vosatko scored on power play for Znojmo (3:2). Orli did they best to equalize, but result did not change. Black Wings extended their lead on top of the league to 12 points in front of Salzburg. Orli are still on tenth place, one point in front of Acroni Jesenice only.

Box scores from all games can be found under related links on the right side.

Schedule for 37th round, Tuesday, January 3rd 2012:
BW Linz – KHL Medvescak
EC KAC – Sapa Fehervar
RB Salzburg – Tilia Olimpija
Acroni Jesenice – EC VSV
Orli Znojmo – Vienna Capitals

 

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