Match pucks! Lustenau can secure a place in the final against Kufstein, as can Kapfen­berg against Hohenems

Semi-final 1 – Game 2: HC Kufstein vs. EHC Lustenau
Sat, 28 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein

The HC Kufstein host EHC Lustenau in their semi-final game at Eisarena Kufstein on Saturday. Following their 4:1 win at Rheinhalle, the team from Vorarlberg lead the best-of-three series 1:0 and can secure their place in the final away from home in the Fortress City. The Dragons can only extend their season and force Tuesday's decider in Lustenau with a home win.

In the first game, Kufstein stood up well to the dominant Lions in the opening period, with netminder Thomas Pfarrmaier keeping a clean sheet. Following a quick, straightforward counterattack involving Clemens Paulweber, who initiated the move and played the final pass, and Herbert Steiner, Christian Pittl suddenly gave the Unterinntal side a 1:0 lead.

With a quick double strike to level the score and take the lead for the first time early in the second period through Chris D’Alvise and Adem Kandemir, the home side set themselves on course for the series lead within two minutes. Goals from D’Alvise later in the second period and Riku Tiainen in the final period sealed what was ultimately a comfortable home win for Lustenau, who claimed their fifth victory of the season against the Dragons.

Kufstein are hoping for the support of their vocal home fans and will need to be even more compact and disciplined defensively against the attacking power of the team from Vorarlberg if they are to have a chance of levelling the series. EHC Kundl, with their narrow 2:1 home win in early January, and SC Hohenems, with their 3:2 derby victory at Herrenried in late January, have shown this season how Lustenau can be beaten.

Kufstein chairman Roland Luchner is convinced that his team can reach a Game Three in Lustenau: "The result of the first semi-final game was fair in terms of the performance: Lustenau were very composed and clever. The good thing about a play-off series, though, is that after losing one game it is only 0:1, and you have the chance to level the score in the next match. We need to take that chance: we are playing at home in front of a full house, with the fans behind us; this semi-final should not be decided after two games – and our team definitely has the quality to come back and take the decision to Game Three."

Lustenau head coach Dániel Fekete expects highly motivated Kufstein players fighting to avoid semi-final elimination and knows what is required to reach the final: "This match is a final for Kufstein. They have to win if they are not to head into the summer break early. For that reason, we expect a highly motivated Kufstein team that will challenge us until the final minute. With a performance similar to last Saturday's, we can win this game too. Our goalkeeper Felix Beck and the defence put in a very good performance. In attack, we need to convert our chances into goals even more consistently!"

Semi-final 2 – Game 2: SC Hohenems vs. KSV Kängurus
Sat, 28 February 2026, 18:30, Eisstadion Hohenems

The SC Hohenems battle the KSV Kängurus at Eisstadion Hohenems on Saturday to stay alive in the best-of-three series. Last weekend in Kapfenberg, the Styrians came back spectacularly from 0:3 and 1:4 deficits to win 5:4 after a penalty shoot-out in the final minutes, and now have the chance to book their ticket to the final early with an away victory in the Ländle. As is the case for Kufstein in the other semi-final series, SC Hohenems face a simple scenario at home: "Win or go home!"

The game in the Böhler City was not for the faint-hearted. The Steinböcke caught the Kängurus cold in the opening period and counterattacked their way to a 2:0 lead through goals from Patrick Spannring and Fabian Mandlburger. In the second period, the Styrians realised the seriousness of the situation and stepped up their attacking game. However, the third goal of the game came at the other end shortly after the halfway mark, with Hohenems extending their lead to 3:0 through Eric Ockert.

When Manuel Trost quickly reduced the deficit to 1:3 with a wrist shot from the slot, hope began to emerge among the fans for the first time, only for Eric Ockert to seemingly extinguish it for good with a superb goal to make it 4:1 nine and a half minutes from time. Lukas Draschkowitz made it 2:4 on a 5:3 power play, followed by the most dramatic closing minutes in recent Kapfenberg ice hockey history. Two goals within a minute, from Pierre Graf to make it 3:4 and Neal Unterluggauer to level at 4:4, sent the Kängurus into overtime, where they survived a 3:4 penalty kill before winning 5:4 in the shoot-out thanks to a Florian Hoppl goal.

Hohenems sporting director Matthias Fritz knows that only wins now count in the race for a place in the final: "For long stretches, it was an evenly matched game, although Kapfenberg were able to increase the pressure as the game went on. After some unfortunate refereeing decisions, we came under increasing pressure when 3:5 down and then at 4:5. With a little luck, we could have made it 5:1 beforehand, which would probably have taken the game in a different direction. In the end, the decision had to be made in the shoot-out, where we narrowly lost despite hitting the post three times. Now we need to put the game behind us quickly, get back up and look ahead – because from now on, only wins count!"

Kapfenberg player-coach Kristof Reinthaler looks back on his team's nerve-racking home game ahead of their potential decider in Hohenems and wants to see consistent hockey for 60 minutes: "It was a very nerve-racking game for us. We made things very difficult for ourselves in the first period; we completely slept through the first period, which was catastrophic from our point of view. Then every individual took an extra step and worked harder. After all, it is the playoffs now, we are in the semi-finals, we had a well-attended stadium, and if you do not give it everything then, when will you? We were fortunate to be able to take the game into overtime after making it 4:4. We lost the opening playoff game in the shoot-out after overtime, but we learned our lessons from that. We played the three-on-three well; the shoot-out is a matter of luck, and luck was on our side. We have to play well for 60 minutes away from home. If we had played the first 20 minutes as we did the remaining 40 minutes, there definitely would have been more in it. We have to take a good look at ourselves and make sure we do better next time!"

Ö Eishockey Liga 2025/2026 – Playoffs – Semi-finals

Game 2:

HC Kufstein vs. EHC Lustenau
Sat, 28 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein - >> to the livestream

SC Hohenems vs. KSV Kängurus
Sat, 28 February 2026, 18:30, Eisstadion Hohenems - >> to the livestream

Game 3 (if necessary):

EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein
Tue, 03 March 2026, 19:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau

KSV Kängurus vs. SC Hohenems
Wed, 04 March 2026, 18:30, Stadthalle Kapfenberg

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 scorers: Christopher D’Alvise (24:41 min, 33:10 min), Adem Kandemir (26:45 min), Riku Tiainen (49:57 min)
HC Kufstein scorer: Christian Pittl (15:16)

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

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/PP2, 23:23/PP1), Luca Fasching (37:08), Lukas Telsnig (53:58)
EHC Kundl scorers: Maximilian Mackner (08:12), Lukas Thaler (31:16/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, 10:29/PP1, 25:27/PP2, 36:40), Dominik Hron (48:32), Sandro Schadl (55:50/SH1/EN)
Wiener Eislauf-Verein scorer: Xaver Emslander (30:13)

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)
Saturday, 14 February 2026, 18:30 hrs, Graz Merkur Eisstadion (Hall A)
ATSE Graz goalscorer: Filip Matijević (43:49 min.)
EHC Lustenau goalscorers: 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 result in the best-of-three series: 0:2

EHC Kundl vs. KSV Kängurus 0:6 (0:3,0:3,0:0)
Saturday, 14 February 2026, 17:30 hrs, Eisarena Kundl
KSV Kängurus goalscorers: 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 n.P. (2:2,0:0,1:1,0:0,1:0)
Saturday, 14 February 2026, 17:30 hrs, Eisarena Kufstein
HC Kufstein goalscorers: Stefan Reiter (12:30 min., 41:22 min.), Aleksi Airaksinen (19:31 min.), Clemens Paulweber (65:00 min./decisive penalty)
Sharks Gmunden goalscorers: Moritz Neurauter (02:24 min.), 09:53 Hubert Berger (09:53 min.), Jonas Kail (52:57 min./PP1)

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

Wiener Eislauf-Verein vs. SC Samina Hohenems 3:2 (1:1,1:0,1:1)
Saturday, 14 February 2026, 18:00 hrs, WEV Arena Heumarkt
Goalscorers Wiener Eislauf-Verein: Patrick Bolterle (17:05), Rupert Fichtinger (29:11/PP1), Richard Gruber (45:21)
Goalscorers SC Hohenems: 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
Goalscorers EHC Lustenau: 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)
Goalscorers ATSE Graz: Cody Wickstrom (43:42), Mathias Werkl (47:46)

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

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
Goalscorers Sharks Gmunden: Lukas Stöttner (03:40), Fabian Richter (19:36), Paul Pirklbauer (50:51/PP1)
Goalscorers HC Kufstein: 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, Hohenems Ice Stadium
SC Hohenems scorers: Marcel Wolf (03:52), Patrick Spannring (20:23, 57:36/EN), Christian Haidinger (34:57), Benjamin Kyllönen (52:15)
Wiener Eislauf-Verein scorer: Lukas Kaider (23:02)

Playoff format and further dates

The playoff match-ups, from the quarter-finals through the semi-finals to the final, are each decided in a best-of-three series (H/A/H). The teams that are first to record two wins advance to the semi-finals. If the scores are level after regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three overtime is played, as in the regular season. Should overtime also fail to produce a decision, a penalty shoot-out follows. In the semi-finals, the highest-ranked quarter-final winner after Phase 1 plays the lowest-ranked quarter-final winner after Phase 1. The semi-final winners face each other in the final.

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

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

Follow the Ö Eishockey Liga on Instagram and Facebook!