The first Carinthian ice hockey derby of the season is history! And VSV clinched the home victory over the KAC – also thanks to an outstanding John Hughes. In the end, the Red Jackets were more dangerous and better – but the Villachers (Alex Rauchwald was excluded) had the happier ending for themselves.
91 seconds. It didn’t take any longer for the puck to hit the net for the first time. After great preparatory work by Kevin Hancock, John Hughes scores early from the left to give Villach a 1-0 lead. In return, the KAC took advantage of the first power play of the game and only needed six seconds for Fraser to make it 1-1. Even a long video review didn’t change anything. But the Eagles went ahead again in the power play: Hancock pushed the puck past Vorauer in the 8th minute after a Hughes assist to make it 2-1. VSV captain Alex Rauchwald then received a game time penalty after a hard check on Vallant. However, the KAC remained behind 1:2 after the first 20 minutes despite having a five-minute advantage. KAC forces the connecting goal The VSV then punished the (still) too harmless KAC offensive in the next power play in the second third. Desjardins appears in front of the KAC goal and pushes the puck past Vorauer on the right (Postma’s rescue attempt came too late) for a 3-1 lead (26th). Then came the first strong phase of pressure from the KAC: Lukas Haudum slammed the window forward alone Lamoureux hit the crossbar (30th), then the VSV keeper was at the post when Thomas Hundertpfund shot (31st). Mursak became dangerous with a shot from the turn (32′). Thomas Hundertpfund then crossed ideally for Manuel Ganah – he stretched his stick towards the puck, making it 2:3 between Lamoureux’s legs (37th).Villach victory despite the KAC offensiveAt the start of the last third, things got bloody Layne Viveiros hit the puck in the face from close range and was unable to finish the derby. And while Villach was far too passive on offense, things were ablaze at the back. The Klagenfurt team pressed extremely hard for the equalizer – the last pass was missed several times and they couldn’t get into a shooting position in front of the goal. The VSV, however, was completely out of control, producing one bad pass after the other. But the one-sided game didn’t take revenge in the end. With his second goal (he also set up the other two goals), John Hughes made it 4-2 – and thus VSV also won the derby!
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