Hohenems comfort­ably win derby against Dorn­birn - Croc­o­diles Kundl pull off sensa­tion against Kufstein

League leaders SC Samina Hohenems hosted in the final Ö Eishockey Liga game of 2023 the Dornbirner EC in the Vorarlberg derby in the final Ö Eishockey Liga match of __OEHV_NUM_E_A__. 

The Steinböcke lived up to their role as favourites and quickly took a 1:0 lead through Patric Scheffknecht (5.). Julian Grafschafter set Hohenems on course for an early home win with a double strike within 21 seconds, making it 2:0 and 3:0 (15.) in front of more than 500 fans at Herrenried. Four minutes before the end of the period, Johannes Hehle made it 4:0 to all but seal the result in the opening section (17.).

The team coached by Thomas Sticha continued to set the tempo in the second period, with Benjamin Kyllönen extending the lead to 5:0 (25.). The home side then eased off a little, with the next goal coming just under nine minutes later as Felix Vonbun made it 6:0 (35.). Three minutes later, Johannes Hehle increased the lead to 7:0 for the Schlittschuhclub (37.).

In the final period, Christian Haidinger added the 8:0, giving backup Laurin Gehringer, who was now playing in place of starting netminder David Bernhard, no chance (42.). Two minutes later, Fabian Mandlburger was ideally placed to score the 9:0 for Hohenems (44.). Eleven minutes from the end, Julian Grafschafter fired home his third goal to take the hosts into double figures at 10:0 (50.). 

Four and a half minutes before the final buzzer, Janci Heisig made it 11:0 (56.). Benjamin Kyllönen then scored a power-play goal to complete the 12:0 final score (58.). With this defeat for Dornbirn, the playoff places in the West Division are now secured for SC Hohenems, HC Kufstein, EHC Crocodiles Kundl and VEU Feldkirch.

Kundl win derby against Kufstein

Fans at Eisarena Kundl witnessed a fiery match with a sensational course of events on Friday. EHC Crocodiles Kundl won the keenly contested district derby against HC Kufstein 7:4 after trailing 1:4. Before this encounter, the Dragons had won all previous local derbies.

David Hrazdira on the power play (4.) and Markus Prock (8.) quickly gave the visitors a 2:0 lead, before Johannes Schernthaner cut the deficit to 1:2 for Kundl on a power play (15.). Martin Kosnar restored the two-goal lead, also on the power play (19.).

When Herbert Steiner made it 4:1 for the team coached by Ivo Novotny early in the second period on the power play (24.), everything appeared to point towards a comfortable Kufstein victory. But the team coached by Jaro Betka hit back in the second period, cutting the deficit to 3:4 with a double strike within 13 seconds from Vladimir Dolnik (26.) and Adrian Schuster (27.).

Still in the second period, Erik Hefke equalised at 4:4 for the Crocodiles on the power play (34.). Eisarena Kundl was buzzing, the match became increasingly heated and there were plenty of penalties.

There was no holding back in Kundl in the final period in front of 550 fans, as the hosts took the lead for the first time on this memorable evening through Lukas Thaler at 5:4 (48.). Fabio Müller completed the sensation for Kundl with a brace – first on the power play (52.) and then into the empty Kufstein net just under two minutes from the end (58.).

It was Kundl's first win in the fourth season derby; another district derby in Kufstein follows on the final matchday of the regular season on 03 February 2024.

Ö Eishockey Liga - West Division:

SC Samina Hohenems vs. Dornbirner EC 12:0 (4:0,3:0,5:0)
Sat., 30 December 2023, 17:30, Eisstadion Hohenems
SC Samina Hohenems scorers: Patric Scheffknecht (04:16), Julian Grafschafter (14:01, 14:22, 49:06), Johannes Hehle (16:06, 36:56), Benjamin Kyllönen (24:07, 57:35/PP1), Felix Vonbun (34:00), Christian Haidinger (41:27), Fabian Mandlburger (43:30), Janic Heisig (55:29)

EHC Crocodiles Kundl vs. HC Kufstein 7:4 (1:3,3:1,3:0)
Fri., 29 December 2023, 19:30, Eisarena Kundl
EHC Crocodiles Kundl scorers: Johannes Schernthaner (14:55/PP1), Vladimir Dolnik (25:56), Adrian Schuster (26:09), Erik Hefke (33:58/PP1), Lukas Thaler (47:11), Fabio Müller (51:58/PP1, 57:40/SH1/EN)
HC Kufstein scorers: David Hrazdira (03:01/PP1), Markus Prock (07:37), Martin Kosnar (18:32/PP1), Herbert Steiner (23:01/PP1)

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