Rare Graz victory over Salzburg
Successes for Carinthian clubs in overtime – Laibach maintained the championship lead – the Vienna Capitals defeated Pusterta.
The Graz99ers forced Red Bull Salzburg back into the ICE ice hockey league after seven unsuccessful attempts. The Styrians celebrated a 3-2 after a penalty shootout on Sunday. The KAC scored their fourth away win in a row at 3-2 in Fehervar. Ljubljana extended its table lead with a 4: 3 in Dornbirn. The Vienna Capitals clearly prevailed 3-0 in the stragglers duel with Pustertal, while Linz gave away the three points against the VSV in the finish.
The start phases were record-breaking. In five of the six games the field scored 1-0 within the first minute of the game. The Linzers cheered the fastest. Chris Rumble scored after seven seconds in a game that overturned in the finish: Up to 38 seconds before the end, the Upper Austrians apparently led 3-1 comfortably, but John Hughes and Joel Broda with a goal eight seconds before the end saved the VSV in overtime , in which Scott Kosmachuk even led the Carinthians to a 4-3 victory. The former Linzer Broda collected four points.
In Graz, the home team are also making a lightning start against Salzburg. After 85 seconds, goals from ex-Salzburg’s Michael Schiechl (30 seconds) and Calle Ackered twice outnumbered it even 2-0. The possible third shutout in a row by bull goalie Atte Tolvanen was canceled. The still weakened guests – including Thomas Raffl, Ty Loney and Ali Wukovits were missing – initially found no answer in the form of a hit. Only Mario Huber succeeded in being outnumbered (38th). The striker also had the 2: 2 credited, after goalie Niklas Lundström let a harmless chip slip through (49th). In the penalty shootout, the 99ers had the better end to themselves thanks to the Swedish veteran Simon Hjalmarsson.
Dornbirn was down 1: 3 after two thirds, but equalized in the final third with Davis Vandane (41./PP) and Colton Beck (45.). Nevertheless, the seventh-placed Vorarlberg team suffered their third home defeat in a row because Jaka Sodja was the Laibach match winner for 40 seconds. While Vorarlberg suffered their third home defeat in a row, the Slovenian peat factory points in its eleventh game in a row. The reward is four points ahead of Fehervar in the table.
The best Austrian team is the KAC, which scored for the seventh time in a row and is three points behind the Hungarians. Paul Postma in Szekesfehervar secured the two points of the now third-placed defending champion after 39 seconds in extra time. The red jackets had previously presented twice by Johannes Bischofsberger (51 seconds) and Matt Fraser (26th).
The Capitals achieved their third home win in a row. Anton Karlsson (1st), Nicolai Meyer (18th / PP) and Lukas Piff (46th) met in the 3-0 win against newcomer Pustertal. David Kickert celebrates the first shutout since his return.