Ö Eishockey Liga final: First title for Lustenau or series leveller for Kapfen­berg

Championship showdown in the Ö Eishockey Liga, part two: the KSV Kängurus face EHC Lustenau in the second final at Stadthalle Kapfenberg on Saturday. While the team from Vorarlberg can secure their first ÖEL championship title with an away win after their 4:2 victory at their home Rheinhalle and 1:0 lead in the best-of-three series, the message for the Styrians at home is: "Losing is not an option!"

The first meeting last weekend delivered everything this clash between the top two teams after the regular season and the play-off series so far had promised. Both sides engaged in a fast-paced battle that grew increasingly intense as the game went on, featuring plenty of good attacking passages and chances at both ends.

The team from Vorarlberg initially set the tone in the first period, before the Mürztal side were also able to make the game much more open. The tension rose with every minute at Lustenau's Rheinhalle, which was very well attended with almost 1.900 fans. For a long time, the two goaltenders – Felix Beck for Lustenau and Felix Nußbacher for Kapfenberg – were the focus of attention and kept their respective nets clean.

The late 1:0 for the Lions was emblematic of the game to that point: with five seconds remaining before the second intermission, Riku Tiainen brought the puck over the line with a final effort as he fell. This broke the deadlock at both ends, and the two opponents then provided a goal-laden final act in the last period.

After Martin Grabher Meier quickly made it 2:0, Kapfenberg swiftly pulled back to 1:2 through Pierre Graf. Lustenau found the right response once again through Riku Tiainen. Jonas Kutzer's power-play goal for 4:1 appeared to have settled the game, but the Kängurus were able to pull one back through Christoph Draschkowitz and make the closing stages exciting.

On a power play that at times even gave them a 5:3 advantage, the visitors pressed for another goal. In the end, the Styrians also pulled goaltender Nußbacher, but Lustenau successfully resisted conceding another goal in the final minutes and secured their first chance to clinch the title after a high-quality game.

Kapfenberg player-coach Kristof Reinthaler now knows how the Lions operate and wants to hit back with his team on Saturday: "I think we needed the first period a little to get used to Lustenau's pace and style of play. As the game went on, though, we found our chances too, and ultimately it was an evenly matched game. We need to put the defeat behind us and look ahead. On Saturday, it will be important for us simply to be tougher in front of goal and turn our chances into goals!"

Lustenau coach Dániel Fekete wants to wrap things up away in Kapfenberg with his team and bring the championship trophy to Vorarlberg: "The KSV Kängurus team challenged us fully in the first game. In front of their home crowd, the Styrians are determined to win, extend the series and force a third game. We expect an active and aggressive Kapfenberg team that will look to put us under pressure from the start. We are ready for this second final and have enough experience and quality, as well as the absolute determination within the team, to win this game and bring the championship trophy to Lustenau!"

Ö Eishockey Liga 2025/2026 - Play-off - Final

Game 2:

KSV Kängurus vs. EHC Lustenau
Sat., 14 March 2026, 18:30 hrs, Stadthalle Kapfenberg - >> to the livestream

Best-of-three series score: 0:1

Game 3 (if necessary):

EHC Lustenau vs. KSV Kängurus
Sat, 21 March 2026, 17:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau - >> to the livestream

Game 1:

EHC Lustenau vs. KSV Kängurus 4:2 (0:0,1:0,3:2)
Sat, 07 March 2026, 17:30, Rheinhalle Lustenau
EHC Lustenau scorers: Riku Tiainen (39:55, 47:06), Martin Grabher Meier (41:32), Jonas Kutzer (53:43/PP1)
KSV Kängurus scorers: Pierre Graf (45:23), Christoph Draschkowitz (54:23)

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

Game 2:

HC Kufstein vs. EHC Lustenau 0:8 (0:2,0:6,0:0)
Sat, 28 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein
EHC Lustenau scorers: Dominic Haberl (01:11), Christopher D’Alvise (08:30, 34:00, 36:14/PP1), Martin Grabher Meier (27:24, 29:19/PP1), Robin Wüstner (29:54), Lucas Haberl (37:37/PP1)

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

SC Hohenems vs. KSV Kängurus 3:7 (0:4,2:2,1:1)
Sat, 28 February 2026, 18:30, Eisstadion Hohenems
SC Hohenems scorers: Eric Ockert (21:43), Patrick Spannring (35:43/PP1), Ricards Purins (49:13)
KSV Kängurus scorers: Neal Unterluggauer (03:18), Florian Hoppl (06:55), Kevin Moderer (07:43), Lukas Draschkowitz (19:28/PP2), Pierre Graf (32:00), Manuel Trost (32:25), Luca Fasching (58:58/EN)

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

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, 33:10), Adem Kandemir (26:45), Riku Tiainen (49:57)
HC Kufstein scorer: Christian Pittl (15:16)

KSV Kängurus vs. SC Hohenems 5:4 after penalties (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 result 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 result 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)
EHC Lustenau scorers: Lucas Haberl (02:14), Martin Grabher Meier (40:38) Robin Wüstner (47:51), Christopher D’Alvise (58:58/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)
Sat, 14 February 2026, 17:30, Eisarena Kundl
KSV Kängurus scorers: Kevin Moderer (09:19), Pierre Graf (10:24/PP1), Christoph Draschkowitz (13:26, 28:30), Stefan Trost (33:10), Phileas Lyssy (38:18/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 goalscorers: Stefan Reiter (12:30, 41:22), Aleksi Airaksinen (19:31), Clemens Paulweber (65:00/decisive penalty)
Sharks Gmunden goalscorers: Moritz Neurauter (02:24), 09:53 Hubert Berger (09:53), Jonas Kail (52:57/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 n.P. (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 (at 51:48), Michal Kluka (at 65:00/winning 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
Sharks Gmunden scorers: Lukas Stöttner (at 03:40), Fabian Richter (at 19:36), Paul Pirklbauer (at 50:51/PP1)
HC Kufstein scorers: Markus Prock (at 06:24/PP1, at 44:00/PP1), Clemens Paulweber (at 35:01/SH1, at 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 scorers: Marcel Wolf (at 03:52), Patrick Spannring (at 20:23, at 57:36/EN), Christian Haidinger (at 34:57), Benjamin Kyllönen (at 52:15)
Wiener Eislauf-Verein scorer: Lukas Kaider (at 23:02)

Play-off format

The play-off 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 record two wins first advance to the semi-finals. In the event of a draw 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 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 meet in the final.

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