Goals galore at the Tivoli as HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana and KHL Medvescak Zagreb clashed. Right off the rocker, Dario Kostovic rammed Igor Cvetek into the boards and got a Game Misconduct penalty for his troubles. The resulting powerplay gave Petr Sachl a chance from the slot and the veteran scored. Medvescak then found their rhythm, and Sasha Pokuloks’ shot was deflected past J.-P. Lamoureux by Frank Banham for the equalizer. Bostjan Golicic and Matt Siddall also scored in the dying minutes of a really, really entertaining period which ended at 2:2.
In the second period, John Hughes used confusion in front of the Bears‘ net well to make it 3:2. It was anyones’ game now, but all of a sudden, Ziga Pance found youngster Miha Verlic who scored his second of the season to make it 4:2.(36.)
At the start of the third period, Bostjan Groznik and Matt Siddall squared up and both got a 5-minute-rest. When both were back in business, Domen Vedlin struck from the blue line to make it 5:3. Groznik was involved in another altercation with Geoff Waugh, ending his day at the office. Greg Day reduced the gap, but Scott Hotham ended Medvescaks‘ hopes of truning the game. Day’s second couldn’t save the day, meaning Olimpija won their first home game (in nine) against Medvescak since the Croats joined the league.

SAPA need two goals to get the win
SAPA Fehervar AV 19 were in an interesting position prior to the game. Momentum from the Salzburg-game plus the fact that EC-KAC had never won in Hungary this season made the Devils confident. An open opening (pun intended) period saw both sides threaten the opposition goalkeeper. Adam Munro held on for longer, Rene Swette was brilliant against Chad Klassens’ first attempt. But just a minute later, Klaassen had the fastest reflexes, got the rebound and scored the opener. Opening a gap wasn’t possible, though. Mike Siklenka pounced on a mistimed, clearing attempt by the Devils’ Defence and equalized. The Red Jackets took one single minor penalty in the whole game and it proved to be their downfall. The Devils capitalized on the play, with Arpad Mihaly applying the finish on a one-timer.

The second period saw dominance by the Home team, the third belonged to the visitors by a necks’ length, but goals? Does not apply. Both Goalies stood strong, meaning SAPA Fehervar AV19 could hold onto the lead to win 2:1. Discipline (PIM AVS: 0, PIM KAC: 12) and effective usage of their chances brought the team to second place in the table

Linz rally, win at home
EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz were down 0:2 to EC Red Bull Salzburg in the first period and it looked like the visitors would cruise that game home now. They had not counted on young, talented Vorarlbergean Forward Patrick Spannring, though. The 21-year-old Forward doubled his goal tally, interrupted only by Dan Welsers goal. Following Spannrings outburst, the game was up for grabs at 2:3.
In the 45^th, Jan-Axel Alaavara scored the equalizer with his first goal for Linz in his second game. Alex Westlund dug deep to save his team twice, and then, Mike Ouellette scored his 74^th of his career in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga – and his eleventh game winner. Salzburg have lost four consecutive games and it’s been quite a while since that happened the last time

27.01.2012: HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 6:4 (2:2, 2:0, 2:2)
Goals Ljubljana: 1:0 Sachl (5./pp), 2:1 Golicic (15.), 3:2 Hughes (24.), 4:2 Verlic (36.), 5:2 Vedlin (47.), 6:3 Hotham 57./pp).
Goals Zagreb: 1:1 Banham (12.), 2:2 Siddall (16./pp), 5: 3 Day (52.), 6:4 Day (57.)

27.01.2012: SAPA Fehervar AV19 – EC-KAC 2:1 (2:1, 0:0, 0:0)
Goals Szekesfehervar: 1:0 Klassen (7.), 2:1 Mihaly (19./PP)
Goals Klagenfurt: 1:1 Siklenka (9.)

27.01.2012: EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz – EC Red Bull Salzburg 4:3 (0:2, 2:1, 2:0)
Goals Linz: 1:2, 2:3 Spannring (31., 38.), 3:3 Alavaara (45.), 4:3 Ouellette (53.7pp)
Goals Salzburg: 0:1 Raffl (11.), 0:2 Bois (19./pp), 1:3 Welser (36.)