4:2 over Innsbruck

Finally! VSV celebrates its first win of the season

The relief was written all over the faces of the VSV aces.

(Bild: Kuess Josef/Kuess)

VSV fired from all cylinders! A deserved 4:2 at home against Innsbruck - first win of the season, first point. After a weak start, Villach fought their way back into the game and had a clear advantage in terms of play and shots on goal. Chase Pearson then made it 4:2 with five minutes to go and a defensively inferior KAC went down 3:6 at Pustertal.

Who's afraid of Felix Maxa? Since yesterday, probably the entire ICE League. At least when the 26-year-old puts on his new "dog mask" (see picture on the right!). "It's now always given to the man of the match in the dressing room," Felix laughs at captain Alex Rauchenwald's bizarre motivational idea. Thanks to his strong performance in the 4:2 win over Innsbruck, that was Maxa yesterday.

The "cabin dog": Felix Maxa was the first to wear the mask. The idea came from captain Alexander Rauchenwald.

(Bild: Plieschnig)

"After the next game, I'll choose the colleague who gets to wear the mask," explained the Viennese, whose first goal of the season to make it 1:1 also heralded Villach's first long-awaited win of the season. "The relief is huge - we work so hard, it was a shame that we couldn't show that in the game so far. But good teams always come back stronger," said Maxa.

Pressure was palpable at the start
VSV had a nervous start to the fifth game of the season. After all, they had lost the first four, so a reaction was needed. However, the insecurity and the pressure to win were noticeable in the first 15 minutes. The 0:1 (12th) was reviewed for a long time because a penalty had already been indicated - but the referees awarded the goal to the great displeasure of the Villach team.

VSV then fought their way back into the game and had 19 (!) shots on goal in the first period alone. And this time they were finally rewarded. Felix Maxa grabbed the disc in the turmoil and slammed it into the net past Buitenhuis, who was already lying on the ground. Rebernig (17) and Coatta (19) had top chances to take the lead, but 49 seconds before the end of the first period it was Hancock who backhanded the puck into the short corner after a pass from Hughes - 2:1!

Hughes made up for Kulintsev's mistake
In the second period, Villach dominated the play, with Innsbruck merely waiting for disc losses and counterattacks - with success! Kulintsev fumbled the puck on the backcheck and Innsbruck's Grasso said thank you! But Hughes restored the lead just 25 seconds later after MacPherson's attempt on the rebound, scoring to make it 3:2. After a (renewed!) turnover error and a penalty for having too many players on the ice, Pearson even had the shorthander on his stick (37'). Together with Van Nes, the Dutchman then failed to put the puck in the net 17 seconds before the end, alone in front of the strong goalie Buitenhuis. 

Pearson puts the lid on it
The final third started off in a sluggish manner, Hughes and Hancock had Villach's best chance with a double chance (47th), but both failed to beat the strong Buitenhuis. In the third blue and white powerplay of the evening, the team struggled to build up play up front, Hancock gave away the disc unnecessarily on one occasion - and VSV were lucky not to concede the equalizer while short-handed. Welsh failed to score from a good position. JP Lamoureux had prevented worse things from happening several times before that, keeping the score at 3:2 with good reflexes.

The redemption then came from Chase Pearson in the powerplay! The 27-year-old finished off a combination of MacPherson and Hancock in front of the net to make it 4:2. Thanks to the great shot balance of 40:28 and a very strong goalie Lamoureux in the final period, they were able to celebrate for the first time this season.

KAC squander 2:0 lead
The KAC led Pustertal 2-0 after the first period thanks to goals from Bischofberger and Schwinger - but then things went downhill. The South Tyroleans scored twice in the space of a few seconds in the second 20 minutes to take a 4-2 lead and then conceded two more goals to Klagenfurt's inferior defense in the final period. The result was a bitter 3:6 rebuff in the dress rehearsal for Wednesday's Champions Hockey League match at Geneva.

6th round:

Pioneers Vorarlberg - Olimpija Ljubljana 2:5 (1:3,1:0,0:2)

Fehervar AV19 - HCB Südtirol 0:3 (0:0,0:1,0:2)

Graz99ers - Vienna Capitals 2:3 n.V. (0:1,1:1,1:0;0:1)

EC VSV - HC Innsbruck 4:2 (2:1,1:1,1:0)

Pustertal Wölfe - EC-KAC 6:3 (0:2,4:0,2:1)

Sunday, 15.12.2024

Black Wings Linz - EC Salzburg 17.30