Kapfen­berg win shootout thriller against Hohenems after come­back – Lustenau take the lead against Kufstein

Semi-final 1 – Game 1: EHC Lustenau celebrate home win over HC Kufstein

The EHC Lustenau faced HC Kufstein on Saturday at the Rheinhalle Lustenau in front of almost 1.000 fans in the opening game of their best-of-three Ö Eishockey Liga semi-final series. The clash between the winners of the West Division and the team that finished third in the West after the regular season was an intense affair from the outset, with both teams fully committed.

The Lions, who had not lost a single home game so far this season, quickly took control. The Dragons stood their ground early on and came through a tricky spell short-handed, including around a minute and a half at a 3:5 disadvantage. Emotions began to run high, with the playoff atmosphere creating a real buzz in the Rheinhalle as early as the opening period.

Following a quick, direct counter-attack started and completed with the final pass by Clemens Paulweber, Herbert Steiner found Christian Pittl in the slot, who fired home clinically to give Kufstein a 1:0 lead (16 mins).

The hosts remained on top in the second period, repeatedly pinning the Tyroleans in their defensive zone. Kufstein defended strongly as a unit, backed by the impressive goaltender Thomas Pfarrmaier, and patiently waited for counter-attacking opportunities. Then Lustenau defenceman Jonas Kutzer fired from the blue line, and goal-getter Christopher D’Alvise reacted quickest after a scramble to score the 1:1 equaliser from close range (25 mins).

Almost two minutes later, Lustenau added another: Adem Kandemir converted a pass from Daniel Stefan directly from the left face-off circle to put Lustenau ahead for the first time at 2:1 (27 mins). The visitors failed to find an equaliser on their first power play. At the other end, defenceman Jonas Kutzer fired the puck towards goal and Chris D’Alvise deflected it in for 3:1 (34 mins).

The Vorarlberg side carried a power play into the final period but were unable to extend their lead with the numerical advantage. Five minutes in, the visitors had another power play, but the Dragons were again unable to score.

Lustenau sealed the result just under ten minutes from time: Finnish forward Riku Tiainen shaped to pass from the right face-off circle before firing the puck straight into the net for 4:1 (50 mins). Lustenau lead the semi-final series 1:0 following their 4:1 win. The second game of the best-of-three series takes place in a week's time at the Eisarena Kufstein.

Semi-final 2 – Game 1: Kapfenberg win comeback thriller against SC Hohenems

The KSV Kängurus fought in the Ö Eishockey Liga semi-finals in the first match of the best-of-three series on Saturday at Stadthalle Kapfenberg in front of more than 1.000 fans against SC Samina Hohenems in the opening game of their best-of-three Ö Eishockey Liga semi-final series on Saturday at the Stadthalle Kapfenberg in front of more than __OEHV_NUM_P_A__ fans. The two teams are facing each other in a play-off series for the fifth time in the fifth ÖEL season, with the score standing at 2:2 after four play-off encounters.

The Steinböcke, who had travelled to the Mürztal with just 14 skaters in their line-up, made a dream start: following a quick counter-attack, Patrick Spannring went through alone on Kapfenberg goaltender Oliver Zirngast and coolly fired home for 1:0 (3 mins). The Styrians looked to equalise, but Hohenems netminder Karlo Škec initially kept them out.

The visitors, who ultimately recorded five more shots on goal in the first period, were efficient in attack: following a face-off on their own blue line, the Vorarlberg side launched another quick counter-attack. Leon Schmeiser played the puck across from the right-hand side of the goal, where Fabian Mandlburger got his stick blade to it and made it 2:0 from close range (13 mins). Just under three minutes before the end of the period, the Kängurus had their first power play but were unable to capitalise on the numerical advantage with their first goal. Emotions flared for the first time towards the end of the period, but tempers quickly settled again.

As in the first 20 minutes, the two “old acquaintances” served up a fast and intense game in the middle period. Kapfenberg had their next power-play opportunity early on, but the Mürztal side again failed to score. The East Division winners battled relentlessly to finally get going in the semi-final series, but their shots at HSC netminder Karlo Škec were mostly too central.

For their part, Hohenems looked to keep the game and their two-goal lead under control while launching quick counter-attacks. Ricards Purins, who ran rings around the Kapfenberg defence, fed the puck to Eric Ockert, who scored 3:0 from the slot for the Schlittschuhclub 21 seconds after the halfway point of the game (31 mins).

Almost four minutes later, Kapfenberg pulled one back to make it 1:3, with Manuel Trost beating Hohenems netminder Škec with a superb wrist shot from the slot (35 mins). Immediately afterwards, the team coached by player-coach Kristof Reinthaler had another power-play opportunity to score the next goal, but could not convert it at that stage.

The final period was crunch time: Kapfenberg pushed hard, while Hohenems defended cleverly. Then Eric Ockert burst down the right, beat a Kapfenberg defenceman and fired the puck in for 4:1 for Hohenems (51.). The Kängurus then had a power play, including a lengthy 5:3 advantage. With just under six minutes remaining, Lukas Draschkowitz swept the puck over the line from close range to make it 2:4 (55.), and the game was wide open again.

Suddenly, it was a thriller: Pierre Graf scored from close range to pull one back at 3:4 (58.). The home side then pulled their goalie, Kapfenberg continued to lay siege to the opposition net and, following a scramble, Neal Unterluggauer forced the puck over the line to equalise at 4:4, exactly one minute after the goal that pulled them back into the game (59.).

Following Kapfenberg's comeback, the game went to overtime, where Hohenems had a 4:3 advantage late on but could not convert it into the winning goal. The showdown known as the penalty shoot-out followed. Florian Hoppl was the only scorer, securing the Kängurus a 5:4 victory and a 1:0 series lead. The Styrians can book their place in the final with an away win in Hohenems next Saturday.

Ö Eishockey Liga 2025/2026 – Play-offs – Semi-finals

Game 1:

EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein 4:1 (0:1,3:0,1:0)
Sat., 21 February 2026, 17:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau
EHC Lustenau goalscorers: Christopher D’Alvise (24:41 Min., 33:10 Min.), Adem Kandemir (26:45 Min.), Riku Tiainen (49:57 Min.)
HC Kufstein goalscorer: Christian Pittl (15:16 Min.)

Best-of-three series score: 1:0

KSV Kängurus vs. SC Hohenems 5:4 n.P. (0:2,1:1,3:1,0:0,1:0)
Sat., 21 February 2026, 18:30, Stadthalle Kapfenberg
KSV Kängurus goalscorers: Manuel Trost (34:01 Min.), Lukas Draschkowitz (54:01 Min./PP2), Pierre Graf (57:34 Min.), Neal Unterluggauer (58:34 Min.), Florian Hoppl (65:00 Min./decisive penalty)
SC Hohenems goalscorers: Patrick Spannring (02:22 Min.), Fabian Mandlburger (12:21 Min.), Eric Ockert (30:21 Min., 50:29 Min.)

Best-of-three series score: 1:0

Game 2:

HC Kufstein vs. EHC Lustenau
Sat., 28 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein

SC Hohenems vs. KSV Kängurus
Sat., 28 February 2026, 18:30, Eisstadion Hohenems

Game 3 (if necessary):

EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein
Wed., 04 March 2026, Rheinhalle Lustenau

KSV Kängurus vs. SC Hohenems
Wed., 04 March 2026, Stadthalle Kapfenberg

Further article:

Kapfenberg reach the semi-finals after victory over EHC Kundl – Hohenems overcome WEV

Ö Eishockey Liga 2025/2026 – Play-offs – Quarter-finals

Game 3:

KSV Kängurus vs. EHC Kundl 5:2 (1:1,2:1,2:0)
Wed., 18 February 2026, 18:30, Stadthalle Kapfenberg
KSV Kängurus scorers: Pierre Graf (11:16 min./PP2, 23:23 min./PP1), Luca Fasching (37:08 min.), Lukas Telsnig (53:58 min.)
EHC Kundl scorers: Maximilian Mackner (08:12 min.), Lukas Thaler (31:16 min./PP1)

Final score in the best-of-three series: 2:1

SC Samina Hohenems vs. Wiener Eislauf-Verein 6:1 (2:0,2:1,2:0)
Wed., 18 February 2026, 19:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau
SC Hohenems scorers: Ricards Purins (00:54 min., 10:29 min./PP1, 25:27 min./PP2, 36:40 min.), Dominik Hron (48:32 min.), Sandro Schadl (55:50 min./SH1/EN)
Wiener Eislauf-Verein scorer: Xaver Emslander (30:13 min.)

Final score in the best-of-three series: 2:1

Game 2:

ATSE Graz vs. EHC Lustenau 1:4 (0:1,0:0,1:3)
Sat., 14 February 2026, 18:30, Graz Merkur Eisstadion (Hall A)
ATSE Graz scorer: Filip Matijević (43:49 min.)
EHC Lustenau scorers: Lucas Haberl (02:14 min.), Martin Grabher Meier (40:38 min.) Robin Wüstner (47:51 min.), Christopher D’Alvise (58:58 min./SH1/EN)

Final score in the best-of-three series: 0:2

EHC Kundl vs. KSV Kängurus 0:6 (0:3,0:3,0:0)
Sat., 14 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kundl
KSV Kängurus scorers: Kevin Moderer (09:19 min.), Pierre Graf (10:24 min./PP1), Christoph Draschkowitz (13:26 min., 28:30 min.), Stefan Trost (33:10 min.), Phileas Lyssy (38:18 min./PP1)

HC Kufstein vs. UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden 4:3 after penalties (2:2,0:0,1:1,0:0,1:0)
Sat., 14 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein
HC Kufstein scorers: Stefan Reiter (12:30 min., 41:22 min.), Aleksi Airaksinen (19:31 min.), Clemens Paulweber (65:00 min./decisive penalty)
Sharks Gmunden scorers: Moritz Neurauter (02:24 min.), 09:53 Hubert Berger (09:53 min.), Jonas Kail (52:57 min./PP1)

Final score in the best-of-three series: 2:0

Wiener Eislauf-Verein vs. SC Samina Hohenems 3:2 (1:1,1:0,1:1)
Sat, 14 February 2026, 18:00, WEV Arena Heumarkt
Wiener Eislauf-Verein goalscorers: Patrick Bolterle (17:05), Rupert Fichtinger (29:11/PP1), Richard Gruber (45:21)
SC Hohenems goalscorers: Christian Haidinger (02:55), Marcel Wolf (57:51/PP1)

Game 1:

EHC Lustenau vs. ATSE Graz 7:2 (2:0,2:0,3:2)
Sat, 07 February 2026, 17:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau
EHC Lustenau goalscorers: Christopher D‘Alvise (12:22, 32:25, 50:14), David Slivnik (12:53), Daniel Stefan (33:42), Manuel Metzler (52:50/PP1), Ricardo Bell (59:14)
ATSE Graz goalscorers: Cody Wickstrom (43:42), Mathias Werkl (47:46)

KSV Kängurus vs. EHC Kundl 1:2 after shootout (1:0,0:0,0:1,0:0,0:1)
Sat, 07 February 2026, 19:30, Stadthalle Kapfenberg
KSV Kängurus goalscorer: Lukas Telsnig (17:58/PP1)
EHC Kundl goalscorers: Sebastian Schild (51:48), Michal Kluka (65:00/decisive penalty shot)

UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden vs. HC Kufstein 3:4 after overtime (2:1,0:1,1:1,0:1)
Sat, 07 February 2026, 18:30, muki Arena
Sharks Gmunden goalscorers: Lukas Stöttner (03:40), Fabian Richter (19:36), Paul Pirklbauer (50:51/PP1)
HC Kufstein goalscorers: Markus Prock (06:24/PP1, 44:00/PP1), Clemens Paulweber (35:01/SH1, 60:50)

SC Samina Hohenems vs. Wiener Eislauf-Verein 5:1 (1:0,2:1,2:0)
Sat., 07 February 2026, 17:30, Eisstadion Hohenems
SC Hohenems goalscorers: Marcel Wolf (03:52), Patrick Spannring (20:23, 57:36/EN), Christian Haidinger (34:57), Benjamin Kyllönen (52:15)
Wiener Eislauf-Verein goalscorer: Lukas Kaider (23:02)

Play-off format and further dates

The play-off match-ups, from the quarter-finals through the semi-finals to the final, will each be decided in a best-of-three series (H/A/H). The teams that record two wins first advance to the semi-finals. If the scores are level after regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three overtime period will be played, as in the regular season. Should overtime also fail to produce a winner, a penalty shootout will follow. In the semi-finals, the highest-ranked quarter-final winner after Phase 1 will play the lowest-ranked quarter-final winner after Phase 1. The semi-final winners will meet in the final.

Final series
Sat., 07 March 2026 | Sat., 14 March 2026 | Sat., 21 March 2026 (if necessary)

All tables, statistics and fixtures for the Ö Eishockey Liga in the Gamecenter

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