KHL Medvescak Zagreb overcame HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana 5:2 on Tuesday but it had been already a great regular season before the game. In their first two years in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga the Croats finished each season on eighth place and now they have got the knack. The Bears welcome EC Red Bull Salzburg for a direct duel about the second place. The calculation is simple: the winner takes it all! Medvescak have scored 16 goals out of their last three home games against the champion. The last meeting in Zagreb ended with a huge 5:0 victory. “Ljubljana played well although they were short of players. We played continuously with four lines and had more energy in the end. We made small adjustments on our power play and it worked. Now we are focused on Salzburg. They have a good squad and both teams wanna go ahead. We have to play in a disciplined way but we know that it’s not a do-or-die game. We don’t care about their last away performances because we have to worry about our own game”, analyzes head coach Marty Raymond. Kenny MacAulay is out as he is still injured.

In their last home game of the regular season EC Red Bull Salzburg defeated Moser Medical Graz99ers 6:3 scoring three goals within two minutes at the beginning of the third period. The Bulls gained 32 points out of 20 home games taking only four beatings. Now the champions enjoy their first Ice Fever game. But Matthias Trattnig and company have had many problems on the road winning only one game out of five. “All in all we played good hockey having the game down pat over 45 minutes. Only in the second period we lost the thread in our defense and conceded two goals. In this league you have to win your home games and we are satisfied that we can often nail it. Now we have to recover the scent on the road. It’s fun for every player who plays in front of a magnificent crowd. That’s an additional appeal for our team because we don’t witness this every single day”, explains Thomas Höneckl who played against Graz for the fourteenth time this season. Robbie Earl, Brent Aubin and Matthias Trattnig have scored five points against Zagreb in the current season. Florian Mühlstein and Markus Pöck make a comeback while Markus Schlacher and Rob Davison remain in Austria.

Hard lot for Jesenice in Graz
Four days ago Moser Medical Graz99ers still had hopes for a direct playoff qualification but after two away defeats they find themselves on ninth place. On Tuesday the Styrians suffered their seventh consecutive defeat at Volksgarten. Now they welcome the bottom club Jesenice, a team the Styrians have beaten thrice this season. They need to add a fourth victory to keep alive their hope for two extra points they would get if the Caps lose at the same time in Linz in regulation time. Graz was able to win all of their five previous home games and especially the second line (Iberer, Harand and Latendresse) stuck out. “For a couple of minutes we stopped playing. The rest of the game was not so bad but on this level we have to be focused for 60 minutes. We still have a chance to reach the eighth place, so we concentrate on our important home game against Jesenice. We hope that Vienna will lose in Linz but we have no control on that game. I expect that our new player Philippe Paquet stabilizes our defense. We have problems getting the puck out of the defensive zone. Now I hope we can switch over faster to the offense “, says head coach Mario Richer. Daniel Woger remains sidelined but Frederic Cloutier will be available for the goal.

HK Acroni Jesenice have run out of steam lately when they lost their previous three home games in the third period. On Tuesday they were beaten 5:1 by the leaders and the Slovenes fired only twice on goal in the last 20 minutes. Now a tough test awaits them in Graz because the Red Steelers gained only eight points out of their 19 away games so far. “We played a good game for 40 minutes and had chances to score another goal but we were not able to convert them. In the final period we made crucial mistakes in the defense. No team is able to afford to do this against the leaders. But it looked like the team was too tired in the end. Now we have a tough road game in Graz because they are fighting for an additional extra point. We will give our best to gain two points at the end of the regular season. It’s also an interesting game because we will face them two more times in the next weeks. In view of qualification round we have to minimize our mistakes in the defending zone and we have to score on power play”, reports Jure Dolinsek, who watched Tuesday’s game from the stands due to a minor injury. In tomorrow’s game the twenty-one-year-old forward will make his comeback.

Friday, 20th January 2012, 19:15
KHL Medvescak Zagreb – EC Red Bull Salzburg (216)
Live-TV: Sportklub CRO
Referees: FUSSI, VEIT, Hofstätter, Zehenthofer
Previous matches:
07.10.2011: EC Red Bull Salzburg – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 6:4 (0:0, 2:1, 4:3)
04.11.2011: KHL Medvescak Zagreb – EC Red Bull Salzburg 5:0 (3:0, 1:0, 1:0)
06.12.2011: EC Red Bull Salzburg – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 6:2 (3:0, 1:1, 2:1)

Moser Medical Graz99ers – HK Acroni Jesenice (220)
Referees: JELINEK, TRILAR, Hofer, Hütter
Previous matches:
02.10.2011: Moser Medical Graz99ers – HK Acroni Jesenice 3:2 (2:0, 1:1, 0:1)
30.10.2011: HK Acroni Jesenice – Moser Medical Graz99ers 3:4 n. V. (2:1, 1:0, 0:2, 0:1)
06.12.2011: HK Acroni Jesenice – Moser Medical Graz99ers 0:3 (0:2, 0:0, 0:1)