ICE Hockey League

Salzburg clearly wins battle against the KAC

That was a clear affair.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Salzburg clearly put the KAC in their place in the ICE Hockey League duel between the champions and runners-up. The "Bulls" won 5:0 at home in the Volksgarten on Friday in a match-up between two teams with strong form and moved to within one point of second-placed Klagenfurt. 

In another Top 6 match-up, the Graz99ers won 5:4 at HCB Südtirol, while VSV, fighting for a direct quarter-final ticket, beat the Vienna Capitals 6:3.

The Pioneers Vorarlberg won 2:1 at home against the sixth-placed Black Wings Linz, while bottom team HC Innsbruck lost 2:5 against Pustertal. Leaders Fehervar surprisingly conceded a 3-2 defeat at Asiago after overtime.

Salzburg shorthanded, but with a lightning start
Salzburg received the Klagenfurt team with very few substitutes, missing Thomas Raffl, Peter Schneider and Ali Wukovits, among others. In an evenly-matched game in front of 3,400 spectators, the home side, who fielded a number of youngsters, were able to quickly get ahead thanks to their superior numbers. Charles Genoway (2nd) and Mario Huber (13th), who came on as captain, both scored on the powerplay. Maximilian Wurzer (14) added another before Salzburg's Luca Auer had to go to the dressing room after a check from behind against Thomas Hundertpfund.

The KAC, who had always been successful in the three previous season duels, had little to complain about, but were already 3-0 down against an efficient Salzburg team. The Red Jackets also remained too harmless in the second period to turn things around. The 4:0 again by Huber (45.) further diminished the hopes of the runners-up, Andrew Rowe finally made everything clear just four minutes before the final buzzer. Salzburg thus celebrated their sixth win in the last seven rounds.

99ers had to tremble after 4:0
The 99ers and Bolzano have had close duels this season. The Styrians took a clear lead in the fourth encounter. Michael Schiechl, Kevin Roy, Rok Ticar and Tim Harnisch opened up a 4:0 lead by the 23rd minute. However, the South Tyroleans refused to give up in front of their home crowd. A brace from Cristiano Digiacinto within 17 seconds brought the team from Bolzano back to 3:4 in the 47th minute. Graz had to tremble, and the 5:3 by Marcus Vela (55') lasted less than two minutes. However, the 99ers managed to hold on to the result.

The Capitals announced before the game that head coach Gerry Fleming and his coaching staff will continue in their roles next season. The Viennese team initially took the lead through Peter Krieger (14th). Chase Pearson (20) equalized on the power play before the visitors' defender Jack Dougherty unintentionally set up counterpart Nikita Scherbak to make it 2:1 (23) for VSV. The Caps were also negligent when Guus van Nes made it 3:1 for Villach while short-handed. The visitors' second goal by Christof Kromp remained just a flash in the pan, Maximilian Rebernig and Scherbak again gave VSV a reassuring 5:2 lead after 40 minutes. Evan Jasper brought the Viennese side back into the game from a tight angle in the final period, but Rebernig restored the lead almost immediately.

The Capitals' defeat moved the Pioneers to within four points of tenth place. David Keefer set up the 1:0 for the Feldkirch team through Roni Allen (25th) and scored the 2:0 (45th) himself. Graham Knott (53) could only reduce the deficit for Linz.

HC Innsbruck - Pustertal Wölfe 2:5 (0:1,0:1,2:3)

EC Salzburg - EC-KAC 5:0 (3:0,0:0,2:0)

EC VSV - Vienna Capitals 6:3 (0:1,5:1,1:1)

Pioneers Vorarlberg - Black Wings Linz 2:1 (0:0,1:0,1:1)

Asiago Hockey - Fehervar AV19 3:2 n.V. (0:0,0:0,2:2;1:0)

HCB Südtirol - Graz99ers 4:5 (0:2,1:2,3:1)