ICE Hockey League

KAC winning streak broken after nine victories

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The KAC's winning streak in the ICE Hockey League has come to an end after nine victories. Austria's ice hockey record champions were beaten 3:4 at HC Pustertal on Friday.

Although Klagenfurt remain second in the table for the time being, the gap to leaders Fehervar widened to four points with two games less to play. The Hungarians celebrated a 5:2 away win against the Graz99ers thanks to a late triple pack.

Champions Red Bull Salzburg won 2-1 at Olimpija Ljubljana thanks to goals from Peter Schneider (11th) and Lucas Thaler (28th). The fourth-placed Mozartstädter (65 points) are ahead of leaders Fehervar (75) on points lost with five fewer matches played. Two days after the 8-0 loss in the Carinthian derby against the KAC, VSV suffered their next heavy defeat with a 5-1 loss at the Black Wings Linz. The Vienna Capitals won 4-2 against bottom of the table Asiago.

KAC squandered a 3:1 lead
The KAC already had their tenth win in a row in Bruneck in sight, but the team from Klagenfurt squandered a 3:1 lead. The South Tyroleans trailed by one goal before the final period, but a double strike from Davide Conci (41') in the powerplay and Tommy Purdeller (43') turned the game around. The Carinthians were unable to equalize in front of 3,034 spectators, sealing their first defeat since 15 December.

In Graz, Marcus Vela equalized a 0:2 deficit for the hosts in the second period with a brace (33rd, 38th). However, the Hungarians left the ice as winners thanks to goals from Chris Brown (56th), Chase Berger into the empty net with exactly 39 seconds to go and Csongor Ambrus one second before the final buzzer. The Styrians thus slipped to sixth place.