Game Day one of the Placement round saw action galore. We’ll start with the game that saw the least goals, KHL Medvescak Zagreb versus EHC LIWEST Black Wings brachte dem Tabellenführer aus Oberösterreich ein Shutout in der Arena Zagreb.
Alex Westlund and Robert Kristan started in goal for their respective team. It was a playoff atmosphere in the Area. The tempo toned down quickly, but Medveš%u010Dak gained a lot of momentum after Geoff Waughs’ hit on Rob Hisey in the defensive zone. That said, the opening period brought no goals.
The Dropkick Murphys were in attendance today as they have a concert in Zagreb. The crowd gave them a big Mexican wave salute in the first intermission. Back to the rink, after a scramble behind the Medveš%u010Dak net the puck came to Curtis Murphy who went top shelf for a 1-0 Linz lead. Ryan Kinasewich got called for crosschecking just after, which added momentum to the Linz team. Michael Mayr got hit by a big slapshot and went down. The game picked up towards the end of the second period. Kenneth MacAuley got called for holding and Linz got another PP opportunity 5 minutes from time in the second. Medveš%u010Dak killed it off, though, and created an odd man rush, on which Frank Banham passed to Joel Prpic who missed up close.
The third period started with a good save by Westlund on a shot from Andy Sertich after some good zone pressure by Medveš%u010Dak. Martin Grabher-Meier got the puck off the boards and scored on a snap shot on Kristan who wasn’t square in the net to give Linz a big 2-0 lead in a very tight game. Medveš%u010Dak responded well, created some chances but Westlund was equal to each of those shots. Too many man on the ice penalty killed any momentum Medveš%u010Dak created. MacAuley almost scored an own goal after he batted the puck out of the air but Kristan made a huge save. Slava Trukhno’s shot was ruled a no goal. Medveš%u010Dak created some pressure right after that, but Westlund shut them down with a series of fine saves. Dan Oberkofler showed off his tremendous skating ability after he got in on a breakaway but Kristan stopped him cold. The home team had one more power play opportunity but Linz managed to kill it off. The Austrian team came away with a well deserved two points.

SAPA Fehervar beat Olimpija
No presents for visting HDD ZTILIA Olimpija Ljubljana in Szekesfehervar. SAPA Fehervar AV19 took command early on. Derek Ryan was denied a One-Timer by Matija Pintaric, but only little later, Arpad Mihaly left him without a chance. The Host continued to push forward, but the Dragons fought their way back into the game. Justin Taylor was quickest to a rebound, his reflexes beating both Defencemen. Just a minute later, the Devils showcased a trademark fastbreak and Istvan Soforn is not one to let chances like that go by. A minute from time, Mihaly set up Ladislav Sikorcin , who slapped the puck past Pintaric to make it 3:1.
The second period saw even more action than the first. Sofron’s shot rang off the crossbar, confirmed by the Refs, who took it to the video judge system just to make sure. Both Adam Munro and Pintaric had their hands full and both excelled. Brock McBride and Scott Hotham both received their first game Game Misconduct of the season. That did not stop Olimpja from closing the Gap. A clever counter attack left Ziga Pance with an easy finish and he scored.
Top Chances were to be seen on either side of the rink in the third period. Finally the Host closed the game from a meleè in which Derek Ryan was the only one who kept a cool head and slotted the puck home. Both teams worked hard to score another, but the score remained at 4:2 even though Pintaric was pulled for an extra skater a minute from time.

KAC beat Salzburg
Meanwhile in Klagenfurt, EC-KAC ran out 6:4-winners over EC Red Bull Salzburg. The Goalfest (Joey Tenute had two goals and Chris Brandner four points) was also marred by Injuries. Salzburgs’ Jeremy Williams and Klagenfurts’ left the game injured. Word on that and possible consequences in tomorrows’ previews.

22.01.2012: KHL Medvescak Zagreb – EC LIWEST Black Wings Linz 0:2 (0:0, 0:1, 0:1)
Goals Zagreb:
Goals Linz: 0:1 Murphy (25.), 0:2 Grabher-Meier (45.)

SAPA Fehervar AV19 - HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana 4:2 (3:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Goals Szekesfehervar: 1:0 Mihaly (2.), 2:0 Sofron (14.), 3:0 Sikorcin (19.), 4:2 Ryan (48./PP)
Goals Ljubljana: 1:1 Taylor (13.), 3:2 Pance, Z. (36.)

EC-KAC – EC Red Bull Salzburg 6:4 (1:1, 2:2, 3:1)
Goals Klagenfurt: 1:0, 2:1 Brandner (3., 23./pp), 3:1 St. Schumnig (23.), 4:3, 6:4 Tenute (41., 54.), 5:3 Scofield (49./pp)
Goals Salzburg: 1:1 Schiechl (16.), 3:2 Kristler (37.), 3:3 Lynch (39./pp), 5:4 Trattnig (53.)