Asiago storms into the top-4

Steel Wings Linz - Rittner Buam 1:3
In contrast to the first two victories against the Steel Wings Linz (8:1 and 10:0), the Rittner had to work hard for the win on Saturday. After an assist from new arrival Francesco Arcuri, who thus also gained a point in his third game, Fabio Rohm put the bottom team in the lead. In the middle period, however, it was almost only the visitors who played, and they were rewarded late on with goals from Andreas Lutz and Radovan Gabri - two defenders turned the game in the Rittners' favour. Five minutes before the end, Jakob Prast finally ensured the 1:3 final score. It was the third win in a row for the tenth-placed Buam.

Red Bull Hockey Juniors - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 1:6
The match between two direct top-4 opponents Salzburg and Asiago promised a lot of excitement. Contrary to the course of the game, the home side took the lead through Danjo Leonhardt in the 19th minute. But before the break, the Italians turned the game around: first Matteo Tessari equalised with his first goal of the evening, then Steven McParland scored to make it 1:2. The momentum was on the side of the Italians, who made it 1:4 in the middle period. Ten minutes before the end, Tessari ensured the final decision with his second goal, Alex Gellert scored for the final score of 1:6. With the first away win after three defeats, Asiago moved up to fourth place. The Juniors, on the other hand, dropped to fifth place with their first home defeat of the season.

EHC Lustenau - S.G. Cortina Hafro 6:3
In the duel of two teams who recently celebrated four victories, Lustenau had to move to the ice rink in Dornbirn for the home game against Cortina. However, the Lions looked comfortable from the start and took a 2:0 lead through a brace by Max Wilfan and Arturs Ozolins. Shortly afterwards, however, Andreas Moser also got the guests on the scoreboard. In the middle period, Lustenau pulled ahead to 4:1, but Cortina fought their way back to within one goal in the third period. A 2+2 penalty against Phil Pietroniro shortly before the end prevented the team from catching up again. Wilfan, who celebrated his hat trick, and Ozolins each scored into the empty net for the final score of 6:3. This means that EHC have scored 31 goals in their last five games and are already in third place in the table. Cortina slipped to eighth place.

SHC Fassa Falcons - EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 3:2 OT
Fassa and Kitzbühel were looking to get back on the winning track on Saturday. While the Falcons had to admit defeat in all three games in the new year, the KEC had been waiting for a win for ten games before the encounter. In a very even game for long stretches, Pontus Wernerson gave the Tyroleans the lead in both the first and second periods. However, Fabrizio Pace (7th) and Daniel Tedesco (40th) equalised. After a goalless third period, Fassa defender Måns Hermansson gave his team the extra point in the 65th minute. Thus, also in the eleventh AHL duel between these two teams, the home team prevailed.

HC Pustertal Wolves - EC Bregenzerwald 6:3
HC Pustertal set the course for victory in the duel with Bregenzerwald already in the first period. With 16:4 not only the shot on goal was clearly in favour of the league leader, Andergassen, Cianfrone and Perlini also scored for a comfortable 3:0 lead. Shortly after the restart, Simon Berger scored the fourth goal. Philipp Pöschmann put the guests on the scoreboard, but real hope did not arise for the Vorarlberg side. Gianluca March and Max Oberrauch added two more goals for the hosts. The game was decided, but ECB showed morale and kept the defeat within limits with two more goals. Thus, the team from Bruneck left the ice as winners in the eleventh home game of the season. It was also the eighth win in the ninth duel with Bregenzerwald.

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice 1:6
The signs were very different even before the game between Val Gardena, which is being coached by Santeri Matikainen on an interim basis after the separation of head coach Erwin Kostner, and Jesenice. While the team from Wolkenstein lost the last three games, the Slovenians celebrated three victories. After ten minutes, Zan Jezovsek, who already scored a brace in Thursday's win over league leader Pustertal, put the guests in the lead. Despite Jesenice's clear dominance, the score remained close. In the middle period, Val Gardena managed to equalise through Michael Sullmann out of nowhere - but it was to be their only success on this evening. The Slovenians scored twice before the second intermission through Rajsar and Svetina. With that, the resistance was broken: Jezovsek scored his second and third goals in the third period. Mirko Dumin netted the final goal in the power play to secure a 6:1 away victory. This was the fifth time in a row that the visitors had won the duel between these two teams. The Slovenians moved up to sixth place in the standings.

Alps Hockey League | Saturday, 16th of January 2021:
Steel Wings Linz – Rittner Buam 1:3 (1:0,0:2,0:1) 
Referees: BRUNNER, DURCHNER, Moidl, Reisinger.
Goal Linz: 1:0 SWL Rohm F. (11:55 / Arcuri F. ,Kail J. / EQ) 
Goals Ritten: 1:1 RIT Gabri R. (35:46 / Kostner S. ,Spinell M. / SH), 1:2 RIT Lutz A. (38:27 / Spinell M. ,Tudin D. / PP), 1:3 RIT Prast J. (55:08 / Lang M. ,Giacomuzzi A. / EQ)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 1:6 (1:2,0:2,0:2)
Referees: HLAVATY, LOICHT, Legat, Voican. 
Goal Salzburg 1:0 RBJ Leonhardt D. (18:07 / Eham J. ,Szuber M. / SH) 
Goals Asiago: 1:1 ASH Tessari M. (19:11 / Ginnetti C. ,Marchetti M. / PP), 1:2 ASH McParland S. (19:25 / Marchetti S. ,Magnabosco J. / EQ), 1:3 ASH Rosa M. (31:28 / McParland S. ,Mantenuto D. / SH), 1:4 ASH Frei A. (36:21 / Mantenuto D. ,Ginnetti C. / EQ), 1:5 ASH Tessari M. (49:58 / Stevan M. / EQ), 1:6 ASH Gellert A. (50:53 / Magnabosco J. ,Rosa M. / PP)

EHC Lustenau – S.G. Cortina Hafro 6:3 (2:1,2:0,2:2) 
Referees: OREL, PODLESNIK, Holzer D., Wimmler.
Goals Lustenau: 1:0 EHC Wilfan M. (08:14 / D'Alvise C. ,Connelly B. / EQ), 2:0 EHC Ozolins A. (09:36 / Haberl D. ,Hrdina S. / EQ), 3:1 EHC Wilfan M. (21:46 / Krammer A. ,Grabher Meier M. / EQ), 4:1 EHC Loibnegger L. (26:25 / König D. ,Haberl L. / EQ), 5:3 EHC Wilfan M. (58:47 / Ozolins A. ,Connelly B. / PP), 6:3 EHC Ozolins A. (59:18 / Wilfan M. ,Oberscheider D. / EQ)
Goals Cortina: 2:1 SGC Moser A. (11:59 / Pietroniro P. ,Sanna M. / EQ), 4:2 SGC Cazzola M. (49:50 / Vainonen M. ,Pietroniro P. / EQ), 4:3 SGC Sanna M. (54:45 / Larcher E. ,Barnabo L. / EQ)

SHC Fassa Falcons – EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 3:2 OT (1:1,1:1,0:0,1:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, PINIE, Cristeli, Fleischmann.
Goals Kitzbühel: 0:1 KEC Wernerson P. (02:47 / Wernerson L. ,Havlik A. / EQ), 1:2 KEC Wernerson P. (29:46 / Gartner R. ,Havlik A. / EQ)
Goals Fassa: 1:1 FAS Pace F. (06:16 / Iori D. ,Hermansson M. / EQ), 2:2 FAS Tedesco D. (39:13 / Iori D. ,Eastman D. / EQ), 3:2 FAS Hermansson M. (64:14 / Tedesco D. / PP)

HC Pustertal Wolves – EC Bregenzerwald 6:3 (3:0,3:2,0:1)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI F., STEFENELLI, Bedana, Piras. 
Goals Pustertal: 1:0 PUS Andergassen R. (06:20 / Hofer A. ,Althuber I. / PP), 2:0 PUS Cianfrone B. (11:04 / Traversa T. ,Andergassen R. / EQ), 3:0 PUS Perlini B. (15:08 / Carozza M. ,March G. / EQ), 4:0 PUS Berger S. (21:35 / Elliscasis D. ,Althuber I. / EQ), 5:1 PUS March G. (32:26 / Hofer A. ,De Lorenzo Meo L. / EQ), 6:1 PUS Oberrauch M. (36:09 / Carozza M. ,Perlini B. / EQ) 
Goals Bregenzerwald: 4:1 ECB Pöschmann P. (22:41 / Ban D. ,Lipsbergs R. / PP), 6:2 ECB Lipsbergs R. (39:55 / Ban D. ,Akerman J. / PP), 6:3 ECB Zwerger J. (51:01 / Ban D. ,Skec K. / EQ)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice 1:6 (0:1,1:2,0:3)
Referees: EGGER, LAZZERI, De Zordo, Mantovani. 
Goal Gherdeina: 1:1 GHE Sullmann Pilser M. (26:21 / Wilkins M. ,McGowan B. / EQ)
Goals Jesenice: 0:1 JES Jezovsek Z. (10:21 / Tomazevic B. ,Sodja J. / EQ), 1:2 JES Rajsar S. (36:27 / Hebar A. ,Urukalo Z. / EQ), 1:3 JES Svetina E. (39:53 / Sodja J. ,Crnovic A. / EQ), 1:4 JES Jezovsek Z. (46:23 / Tomazevic B. / EQ), 1:5 JES Jezovsek Z. (48:32 / Tomazevic B. ,Scap L. / EQ), 1:6 JES Dumic M. (51:04 / Jezovsek Z. ,Masic B. / PP)

Photo: Serena Fantini