ÖEL semi-final start: Lustenau confidently, KSV wins after a dramatic comeback!

What a prelude to the semi-finals in the Austrian Ice Hockey League was: EHC Lustenau celebrated a 4-1 win against HC Kufstein in front of almost 1,000 fans at the start of the best-of-three series in the Rheinhalle Lustenau on Saturday and can secure a place in the final in a week away in the Eisarena Kufstein. Kapfenberg started a sensational comeback in the in-house town hall in front of over 1,000 fans in the first match of the best-of-three series against SC Hohenems after being 1:4 behind and ultimately won 5:4 after a penalty shootout, made it 1:0 in the series and can book the final ticket next Saturday at the Hohenems ice stadium.

Semifinal 1 – Game 1: EHC Lustenau celebrates home win against HC Kufstein

The EHC Lustenau met HC Kufstein in the semi-finals of the Austrian Ice Hockey League at the start of the best-of-three series on Saturday in the Rheinhalle Lustenau in front of almost 1,000 fans. The duel between the winner of the West Division and the third-placed team in the West after the regular round was an intense affair between both teams right from the start.

The Lions, who had not lost a single home game so far this season, quickly took command. The Dragons held their own at the beginning and survived the tricky phase of being outnumbered early on, which even resulted in a 3:5 inferiority for around a minute and a half. The first emotions ran high, the playoff feeling caused a crackle in the Rheinhalle in the first section.

After a quick and straightforward counterattack by Clemens Paulweber, who initiated the counterattack and played the final pass, and Herbert Steiner, Christian Pittl shot in from the slot to give Kufstein a 1-0 lead (16th).

The hosts were also superior in the second third and repeatedly restricted the Tyroleans in their defensive zone. Kufstein played strong defensively in conjunction with the strong goalie Thomas Pfarrmaier and waited patiently for counterattack opportunities. Then Lustenau defender Jonas Kutzer moved from the blue line, goalgetter Christopher D’Alvise was quickest to sugar-coat the situation after a commotion and scored the 1-1 equalizer from close range (25th).

Less than two minutes later, Lustenau followed up: Adem Kandemir directly used a pass from Daniel Stefan from the left face-off circle and gave Lustenau its first lead, 2-1 (27th). The guests failed to equalize in their first majority. On the other hand, defender Jonas Kutzer took a shot and Chris D’Alvise made a deflection to make it 3-1 (34′).

At the beginning of the last section, the Vorarlbergers had a majority, but were unable to extend their lead due to their numerical superiority. After five minutes, the guests had another power play, in which the Dragons failed to score.

Almost ten minutes before the end, the Lustenauers made the decision: Finnish striker Riku Tiainen indicated a pass on the right faceoff circle and sent the disc into the net to make it 4-1 (50th). With the 4-1 win, Lustenau is 1-0 ahead in the semi-final series. The second match in the best-of-three series will take place in a week in the Kufstein ice arena.

Semifinal 2 – Game 1: Kapfenberg wins after catching up against SC Hohenems

The KSV Kangaroos fought in the semi-finals of the Austrian Ice Hockey League in the first match of the best-of-three series on Saturday in the Kapfenberg town hall in front of over 1,000 fans SC Samina Hohenems. The two teams are dueling in a playoff series for the fifth time in the fifth ÖEL season; after four playoff duels the score is 2-2.

The Steinbocks, who only came to Mürztal with 14 field players in the line-up, got off to a dream start: Patrick Spannring, after a quick counterattack, single-handedly passed Kapfenberg goalie Oliver Zirngast and scored to make it 1-0 (3rd). The Styrians tried to equalize, but Hohenems keeper Karlo Škec initially didn’t allow a goal.

The guests, who ultimately had five more shots on goal in the first third, were efficient on offense: After a faceoff at their own blue line, the Vorarlbergers launched another quick counterattack, Leon Schmeiser played from the right side across the goal, where Fabian Mandlburger held out the paddle and made it 2-0 from close range (13th). Just under three minutes before the end of the period, the Kangaroos had their first outnumbered game and were unable to capitalize on their numerical superiority by scoring their first goal. Towards the end of the third it became emotional for the first time, but tempers quickly calmed down again.

As in the first 20 minutes, the two “old acquaintances” also played a brisk and intense game in the middle section. Early on, the Kapfenberg team had their next power play opportunity, but the Mürztal team again failed to score. The winner of the East Division fought doggedly to finally reach the semi-final series, but the shots at HSC keeper Karlo Škec were mostly too central.

For their part, the Ems team tried to keep the match and the two-goal lead under control, as well as to launch quick counterattacks. Ricards Purins, who played the Kapfenberg defense dizzyingly, brought the puck to Eric Ockert, who scored 3-0 for the ice skating club from the slot 21 seconds after halftime (31st).

Almost four minutes later, Kapfenberg reduced the score to 1:3, Manuel Trost beat Hohenems keeper Škec with a wonderful wrist shot from the slot (35th). Immediately afterwards, player-coach Kristof Reinthaler’s team had another chance to score the next goal, but they were unable to score in this phase.

In the final third it was crunch time: Kapfenberg drove energetically, Hohenems defended cleverly. Then Eric Ockert had a burst of energy on the right side, let a Kapfenberg defender get out and sent the ball in to make it 4-1 for Hohenems (51st). After that, the Kangaroos had the majority, even having a 5:3 advantage for a long time. Lukas Draschkowitz returned the puck over the line from close range just under six minutes before the end to make it 2:4 (55th), the match was exciting again.

And suddenly it was a thriller: Pierre Graf scored from close range to make it 3-4 (58th). Then the home team pulled their goalie, Kapfenberg continued to attack the opponent’s goal and Neal Unterluggauer pushed the target over the line after a poke exactly one minute after the goal to equalize 4:4 (59th).

After Kapfenberg’s comeback, the game went into overtime, in which Hohenems had a 4:3 advantage towards the end, but could not use it to score the winning goal. The showdown called the penalty shootout followed. Florian Hoppl was the only shooter to score there and secured the Kangaroos a 5-4 win and a 1-0 series lead. The Styrians can book their ticket to the final next Saturday with an away win in Hohenems.

Ö Ice Hockey League 2025/2026 – Playoff – Semifinals

Game 1:

EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein 4:1 (0:1.3:0.1:0)
Sat., February 21, 2026, 5:30 p.m., Rheinhalle Lustenau
Goal scorers EHC Lustenau: Christopher D’Alvise (24:41 mins, 33:10 mins), Adem Kandemir (26:45 mins), Riku Tiainen (49:57 mins)
Goalscorer HC Kufstein: Christian Pittl (15:16 mins)

Standings in the best-of-three series: 1:0

KSV Kangaroos vs. SC Hohenems 5:4 nP (0:2.1:1.3:1.0:0.1:0)
Sat., February 21, 2026, 6:30 p.m., Kapfenberg town hall
Goal scorers KSV Kangaroos: Manuel Trost (34:01 mins), Lukas Draschkowitz (54:01 mins/PP2), Pierre Graf (57:34 mins), Neal Unterluggauer (58:34 mins), Florian Hoppl (65:00 mins/decisive penalty)
Goal scorers SC Hohenems: Patrick Spannring (02:22 mins), Fabian Mandlburger (12:21 mins), Eric Ockert (30:21 mins, 50:29 mins)

Standings in the best-of-three series: 1-0

Game 2:

HC Kufstein vs. EHC Lustenau
Sat., February 28, 2026, 5:30 p.m., Kufstein Ice Arena

SC Hohenems vs. KSV Kangaroos
Sat., February 28, 2026, 6:30 p.m., Hohenems Ice Stadium

Game 3 (If necessary):

EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein
Wed., March 4, 2026, Rheinhalle Lustenau

KSV Kangaroos vs. SC Hohenems
Wed., March 4, 2026, Kapfenberg town hall

www.eishockey.at, Pic: KSV/Randeu