KHL Medveš%u010Dak Zagreb faced EC-KAC for game two at the Salata ice rink. The first period offered much better hockey than the entire first game of the Nescafe Winter Classic. The ice surface was much smoother due to excellent weather conditions. No snow meant a better playing surface. Both teams played an extremely physical first period. Tom Zanoški opened the scoring just 8 minutes in after David Brine passed him the puck, Zanoški took it in stride and put the backhander past Rene Swette. Michael Ouzas made a couple of excellent saves to preserve the lead late in the period. Medveš%u010Dak had a two man advantage late in the period but couldn’t increase their lead after Chris Brandner and Mike Siklenka both got called for penalties.
The second period started off well, Ouzas made some great saves early, and then Medveš%u010Dak regained momentum and which they kept throughout the period. Ryan Kinasewich was arguably Zagreb’s most dangerous player and fired a fair number of shots on Swette who made some good saves in that period. KAC was put under pressure mostly because their lack of discipline, Thomas Hundertpfund was called for slashing and Medveš%u010Dak capitalized on the power play and scored soon after. Andy Sertich received a pass in the slot and fired it home for 2-0 Zagreb lead.
The third period continued the physicality but KAC responded with a much better effort. They created a number of good scoring chances but Ouzas was there to make the saves. On one occasion, a shot from Herburger hit the post. Swette made a crucial save later in the period after he denied Zanoški from up close. In the last minute Swette made a mistake when he was pulled. He went on the bench too early and Banham stole the puck and passed to Kinasewich who buried it past the returning Goalie.

Olimpija punish Linz!
The dragons started the game vs. the leagues’ best team with a fast chance. With 1:20 gone, Petr Sachl came past the defender but his shot got stopped by the post. With five minutes gone Alex Westlund had to make the save to Bostjan Golicic. In the next play HDD TILIA Olimpija Lubljana got in front.
From the blue line Scott Hotham shot at Westlund and beat him between the legs. 38 seconds later Ziga Pance took a tripping penalty. But the danger was to Westlund who made a big saves to Matej Hocevar and Bostjan Golicic. When Olimpija got back to full strength, Black Wings equalized. Dragons defense forgot Justin Keller, who got the puck at the top of the left slot and beat Lamoureux between the legs. 67 seconds later Linzer stroke again. This time it was Brian Lebler, who beat Lamoureux in a copy of the first goal. In the 18th minute when Black Wings added a 3rd. Brian Lebler took the puck in the middle and beat J.P. Lamoureux with a solo play from the right. 70 seconds before the buzzer Danny Irmen got a 2 minutes penalty for slashing. With 5 seconds left Scott Hotham hammered a rocket from the blue line past Alex Westlund for his second goal of the game.
Early in the second Olimpija got one more man advantage due to too many Black Wings players on ice but scoring chances were are. The game found its’ peak with five minutes left in the period: Adrian Veideman commited a boarding foul. In the 38^th minute, Miha Verlic was brought down by Curtis Murphy while going alone at the net. The dragons were awarded a penalty shot that the youngster executed perfectly deke-ing the keeper for an equalizer. With 48 seconds left the referees turned a blind eye to a clean elbow hit on Matej Hocevar. The dragons captain had to be helped off the ice having lost a tooth and with a broken jaw. The blood had to be cleaned off the surface but no penalty was given.
The third period started with a fight between Brad Cole and Brian Lebler.
Both fighters got a few punches in and received a 5 minutes penalty as a reward. With 4 minutes gone Black Wings took a double minor penalty for two separate hookings by Justin Keller and Daniel Oberkofler. With a superb defending the Black Wings held on for two minutes. Just as the expelled players were skating back the dragons converted. A minute later, Patrick Spannring finished his game with a 5 +20 penalty for charging. 56 seconds into the power play, Ziga Pance put a shot at Westlund. Black Wings goalie covered the puck but it had already crossed the line. The Referees went to take a look on camera and ruled the goal would stand. 20 seconds later, Alex Westlund made a miraculous save on Petr Sachl and Linz managed to kill off the remaining 4 minutes. Just as they were complete, they got a power play of their own that produced no goals. In the 55^th minute, Jamie Fraser went alone at Alex Westlund, but the Black Wings keeper shone, denying Olimpija's defender in an excellent fashion. With 1:30 left in the game Alex Westlund left the ice for an extra attacker. 28 seconds later Petr Sachl took a hooking penalty and the visitors continued with a 6 on 4. But it brought them little luck as Justin Taylor got the puck and scored into the empty net from the middle with 28 seconds remaining.

Szekesfehervar defeat Salzburg
SAPA Fehervar AV19 versus EC Red Bull Salzburg was great game, lead by the netnminders. Adam Munro and Marty Turco were at the top of their game until the shutout, when the Devils’ players showed they knew about Turcos’ long poke-check and beat him form distance.
Dan Welser had drawn first blood for the visitors, but Balazs Lada had the immediate answer. Late in the first, Csaba Kovacs score on a top-notch pass by Krisztian Palkovics. Both keepers showed great ability, even in 5-on-3-situations. Munro had to accept the equalizer, thoug, when Rob Earl beat him on a fastbreak.
More chances were available for either side, and each scored one inspite the heroics their netminders provided. Chad Klassen pounced on one of the rare rebounds of Turco, while Ramzi Abid beat Munro via the post. Overtime went scoreless, but in the Shootout, the Hungarians showed sniper qualities and won the extra point.

05.02.2012: KHL Medvescak Zagreb – EC-KAC 3:0 (1:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Goals Zagreb: 1:0 Zanoski (8.) , 2:0 Sertich (38./PP), 3:0 Kinasewich (60.)
Goals Klagenfurt:

SAPA Fehervar AV 19 – EC Red Bull Salzburg 4:3 n. P. (2:1, 0:1, 1:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Goals Szekesfehervar: 1:1 Lada (8.), 2:1 Kovacs (18.) 3:2 Klaasen (46.), 4:3 Ladanyi (65./dec. Pen.)
Goals Salzburg: 0:1 Welser (4.), 2:2 Earl (32.), 3:3 Abid (49.)

HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 6:3 (2:3, 1:0, 3:0)
Goals Ljubljana: 1:0, 2:3, 4:3 Hotham (6., 20./pp, 47.), 3:3 Verlic (38./PS), 5:3 Z. Pance (48.), 6:3 Taylor (60./EN)
Goals Linz: 1:1 Keller (9.), 1:2, 1:3 B. Lebler (10., 18.)