Release from 09.04.2024

KAC turns final three around and makes it 2:1

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The EC-KAC turned final three of the win2day ICE Hockey League into a 4:2 home win after trailing 0:2. The KAC thus takes a 2:1 lead in the “best-of-7” final series against the EC Red Bull Salzburg. It was also the first home win in the series. Jan Mursak scored the game-winner in the 39th minute. Final four will take place in Salzburg on Friday. PULS24 will broadcast live from 19:05.

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The EC-KAC won 4:2, but it was again the EC Red Bull Salzburg who had a dream start and took the lead in the sold-out Heidi Horten Arena as early as the fourth minute through captain Thomas Raffl, who overcame Sebastian Dahm in the EC-KAC goal with a wraparound. The visitors continued to set the tone from then on, but initially failed to increase the lead to 2:0. In the 17th minute, however, the time had come: in a four on four situation, Troy Bourke took the puck in his own third, danced past several EC-KAC players and also beat Dahm to make it 2:0 for the visitors. It was RBS's first two-goal lead in the final series.

At the start of the second period, Lukas Haudum was once again there for the KAC. After his brace in final two, the 26-year-old scored in the 23rd minute on Tuesday to make it 1:2. It was the forward's sixth postseason goal in total. Lucas Thaler (RBS) had been sent to the penalty box just a few seconds earlier, making it the KAC's third power play goal of the final series. From then on Klagenfurt clearly set the tone. Salzburg also took a number of penalties as a result and the KAC punished them again in the 33rd minute through Manuel Ganahl. And the home side were able to turn the game around completely in the second period. In the 39th minute, Jan Mursak gave Atte Tolvanen no chance in a one-on-one. It was only the second playoff goal for the Slovenian. Salzburg was non-existent in the second period and the defending champion also struggled at first in the final period.

It took until the 46th minute that the Red Bulls had a very good chance to score through Cameron Schilling. Before that, only the KAC played in the third period, but they failed to increase the lead to 4:2. Salzburg then had a few more chances to score, the best was from Drake Rymsha just two minutes before the end, but Dahm made an excellent save. RBS goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen left the ice a short time later and Johannes Bischofberger finally scored an empty-net goal with 17 seconds remaining to finally decide the game for the home side. The "best-of-7" final series continues in Salzburg on Friday. PULS24 will broadcast live from 19:05.

win2day ICE Hockey League | 09.04.2024 | Final 3:
EC-KAC – EC Red Bull Salzburg 4:2 (0:2, 3:0, 0:1)
Referees: STERNAT, ZRNIC, Nothegger, Riecken. | Spectators: 4.397
Standings in the „best-of-7“ series: 2:1
Goals KAC: 1:2 Haudum L. (23./PP1), 2:2 Ganahl M. (33./PP1), 3:2 Mursak J. (39.), 4:2 Bischofberger J. (60./EN)
Goals RBS: 0:1 Raffl T. (4.), 0:2 Bourke T. (17.)