Series level! Kapfen­berg force final show­down against Lustenau with home win

Showdown for the Ö Eishockey Liga title, part II: the KSV Kängurus met on Saturday in the Stadthalle Kapfenberg in the second final in front of more than 3.100 fans at the EHC Lustenau on Saturday in the second final game at Stadthalle Kapfenberg in front of more than __OEHV_NUM_E_A__ fans. As in Lustenau a week earlier, the Austrian national anthem provided an atmospheric prelude.

The hosts made a dream start: Christoph Draschkowitz won the puck in the left corner and passed to Pierre Graf, who scored with a one-timer from the left face-off circle to make it 1:0 (2). The two teams then dispensed with any feeling-out period and the visitors from Vorarlberg quickly equalised: Robin Wüstner scored at the second attempt after a pass from Lucas Haberl to make it 1:1 (5).

It did not take long again for the Kängurus to retake the lead in a fast-paced opening phase. Following a quick counterattack started by Kevin Moderer himself and a shot by Phileas Lyssy, Moderer made it 2:1 with a rebound from close range after just under six minutes (7). To top it off, the first emotions soon surfaced, with KSV's Florian Hoppl and Lustenau's Felix Zipperle briefly coming to blows.

The tension affecting both teams was obvious when further pleasantries were exchanged twice in succession in front of the Kapfenberg net. Towards the end of the first period, Lustenau had the first power play, but failed to equalise.

Kapfenberg had their first power play right at the start of the second period, but the side from the Mürz Valley were also unable to make use of their numerical advantage. As the second period progressed, Lustenau were dominant, as they had been in the first, but initially lacked sufficient conviction in front of goal. The Styrians were compact defensively and whenever shots did get through, goaltender Felix Nußbacher was on hand.

Three minutes after the halfway point of the game, Kapfenberg had their next power play. Lucas Haberl won the puck at his own blue line while shorthanded and launched a quick counterattack. The puck reached his brother Dominic, who played a backhand flip pass back to Lucas, and he scored the 2:2 equaliser from close range – a classic shorthander (35).

The final period began with a bang: with four-a-side on the ice, Michael Malle fired from the left face-off circle on the first attack and put Kapfenberg 3:2 ahead after just 30 seconds (41). Soon afterwards, the visitors had a power play, but the Kängurus held on to their narrow lead.

The Löwen looked for an equaliser, but Kapfenberg continued to defend compactly and, together with netminder Nußbacher, gave away very little. In the end, Lustenau were shorthanded but pulled goaltender Felix Beck despite their numerical disadvantage. Kapfenberg saw out their one-goal lead and forced the decisive third game next Saturday at Rheinhalle Lustenau.

Ö Eishockey Liga 2025/2026 – Play-offs – Final

Game 2:

KSV Kängurus vs. EHC Lustenau 3:2 (2:1,0:1,1:0)
Sat., 14th March 2026, 18:30, Stadthalle Kapfenberg
KSV Kängurus scorers: Pierre Graf (01:27), Kevin Moderer (06:02), Michael Malle (40:30)
EHC Lustenau scorers: Robin Wüstner (04:45), Lucas Haberl (34:36/SH1)

Best-of-three series score: 1:1

Game 3:

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 goalscorers: Riku Tiainen (39:55, 47:06), Martin Grabher Meier (41:32), Jonas Kutzer (53:43/PP1)
KSV Kängurus goalscorers: 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 goalscorers: 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 goalscorers: Eric Ockert (21:43), Patrick Spannring (35:43/PP1), Ricards Purins (49:13)
KSV Kängurus goalscorers: Neal Unterluggauer (03:18 min), Florian Hoppl (06:55 min), Kevin Moderer (07:43 min), Lukas Draschkowitz (19:28 min/PP2), Pierre Graf (32:00 min), Manuel Trost (32:25 min), Luca Fasching (58:58 min/EN)

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

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 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 scorers: Patrick Spannring (02:22 min), Fabian Mandlburger (12:21 min), Eric Ockert (30:21 min, 50:29 min)

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 goalscorers: 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 goalscorer: 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)
Sat, 14 February 2026, 18:30, Graz Merkur Eisstadion (Hall A)
ATSE Graz goalscorer: Filip Matijević (43:49)
EHC Lustenau goalscorers: Lucas Haberl (02:14), Martin Grabher Meier (40:38) Robin Wüstner (47:51), Christopher D’Alvise (58:58/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 goalscorers: 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 (at 12:30, at 41:22), Aleksi Airaksinen (at 19:31), Clemens Paulweber (at 65:00/decisive penalty)
Sharks Gmunden goalscorers: Moritz Neurauter (at 02:24), 09:53 Hubert Berger (at 09:53), Jonas Kail (at 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 (at 17:05), Rupert Fichtinger (at 29:11/PP1), Richard Gruber (at 45:21)
SC Hohenems goalscorers: Christian Haidinger (at 02:55), Marcel Wolf (at 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 (at 12:22, at 32:25, at 50:14), David Slivnik (at 12:53), Daniel Stefan (at 33:42), Manuel Metzler (at 52:50/PP1), Ricardo Bell (at 59:14)
ATSE Graz goalscorers: Cody Wickstrom (at 43:42), Mathias Werkl (at 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
KSV Kängurus goalscorer: Lukas Telsnig (at 17:58/PP1)
EHC Kundl scorers: Sebastian Schild (at 51:48), Michal Kluka (at 65:00/decisive penalty)

UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden vs. HC Kufstein 3:4 n.V. (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 are first to record two wins advance to the semi-finals. If the score is level after regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three overtime period is played, as in the regular season. Should overtime also fail to produce a winner, 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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