Black Wings are new league leader

KAC loses at premiere in Heidi Horten Arena
In the first game in the new Heidi Horten Arena and thus also in the first home game of the season, the EC-KAC lost to the Steinbach Black Wings Linz with 3:5. Seven of the eight goals of the evening were scored in the first 16 minutes of the game. Although the KAC took the lead in the power play as early as the second minute, the Black Wings went ahead after that, both 2:1 and further on to 3:2 and 4:2. After that, the defenses of both teams were much more stable and so the last goal of the game was scored only two minutes before the end of the game. Brian Lebler scored in the power play to make it 5:3. In the second duel of the season, it was the second 5:3 victory of the Black Wings over the KAC.

The Black Wings, who have won eight of their 11 games this season, also jumped to the top of the standings with the win as previous leader HCB Südtirol Alperia lost 3:4 at Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey. In the first duel between the two teams in a decade, the home side got off to a dream start and were already leading 3:0 after 21 minutes of play. Although Bolzano was able to fight its way back into the match and even equalize to 3:3 17 minutes before the end of the game, the league newcomer had the better end in the end. Anthony Salinitri scored on a perfectly played counterattack with 17 seconds remaining. It was only the second win of the season for Asiago. The Foxes are now two points behind leaders Black Wings Linz.

Villach and Olimpija victorious after overtime and shootout respectively
Despite clear leads in the meantime, both the EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV and HK SZ Olimpija had to go into overtime. The team from Villach was already 5:3 in front at the HC TIWAG Innsbruck, but late goals by Adam Helewka forced the Sharks into overtime. In this overtime John Hughes ensured the decision in favor of the Eagles in his 800th game in the win2day ICE Hockey League.

Olimpija goalkeeper Zan Us was heading for a shutout for the Moser Medical Graz99ers for a long time. The Slovenians led 2:0 until eight minutes before the end of the game, but again the home team came back into the game thanks to late goals. In the end, however, as in Innsbruck, the guests prevailed. Rok Kapel converted the decisive penalty for Ljubljana in the shootout.

Debut of Philippe Horsky failed
HC Pustertal had nothing to gain in the first game after Stefan Mair as head coach. Under interim coach Philippe Horsky the team suffered a clear 1:9 defeat at home against the spusu Vienna Capitals. For Hronsky it was a reunion with his old employer. From 2011-2015, the 39-year-old was active in various positions with the federal capitals. On Friday night, there was little to be gained for Pustertal right from the start. Already after the first period, the Capitals led 4:0. In the second period, they pulled away to 6:1. Matt Bradley shone with his first hat trick this season. In the third period it finally became even more clear and the Viennese pulled away even to 9:1. For Vienna it was already the fourth win in a row. Pustertal lost in seven of the past eight games.

In the sixth game of the day, the EC Red Bull Salzburg kept the upper hand also in the second final rematch against Hydro Fehérvár AV19. The Red Bulls, who scored the first goal after 12 seconds, won 6:4. In the meantime, the home side from Hungary managed to pull away to 3:1. In the end, the reigning champions decided the game in their favor in the last seven minutes with goals from Lukas Thaler and Benjamin Nissner. For Salzburg, who are fourth in the table, it was their first win after four consecutive defeats.

WIN2DAY ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE:
EC-KAC – STEINBACH BLACK WINGS LINZ 3:5 (3:4, 0:0, 0:1)
REFEREES: RENCZ, SOOS, MUZSIK, SNOJ | Spectators: 4409
Goals KAC: 1:0 Haudum L. (2./PP1), 2:2 Obersteiner D. (8.), 3:4 Petersen N. (16.)
Goals BWL: 1:1 Brucker M. (3.), 1:2 Romig E. (5.), 2:3 Gaffal S. (12./PP1), 2:4 Haga M. (15.), 3:5 Lebler B. (59./PP1)

HYDRO FEHÉRVÁR AV19 – EC RED BULL SALZBURG 4:6 (1:1, 2:3, 1:2)
REFEREES: REZEK, ZRNIC, HRIBAR, ZGONC | Spectators: 2378
Goals AVS: 1:1 Campbell T. (2.), 2:1 Hari J. (25./PP1), 3:1 Mihaly A. (29.), 4:4 Erdely C. (41./SH1)
Goals RBS: 0:1 Huber P. (1.), 3:2 Lewington T. (30.), 3:2 Genoway C. (32./PP1), 3:4 Huber P. (35.), 4:5 Thaler L. (54.), 4:6 Nissner B. (60./EN/SH1)

HC TIWAG INNSBRUCK - DIE HAIE – EC IDM WÄRMEPUMPEN VSV 5:6/OT (2:1, 0:3, 3:1)
REFEREES: HUBER, NIKOLIC M., BASSO, SEEWALD | Spectators: 1900
Goals HCI: 1:1 Jakubitzka D. (4.), 2:1 Coulter D. (14.), 3:5 Feldner N. (51.), 4:5 Helewka A. (51.), 5:5 Helewka A. (58.)
Goals VSV: 0:1 Desjardins A. (1.), 2:2 Lindner P. (24.), 2:3 Lanzinger B. (35.), 2:4 Tomazevic B. (36.), 2:5 Desjardins A. (46.), 5:6 Hughes J. (62./OT)

MOSER MEDICAL GRAZ99ERS – HK SZ OLIMPIJA 2:3/SO (0:0, 0:2, 2:0)
REFEREES: HRONSKY, PIRAGIC, BEDYNEK, DURMIS | Spectators: 1234
Goals G99: 1:2 Schiechl M. (53.), 2:2 Krainz C. (58.)
Goals HKO: 0:1 Cepon K. (25.), 0:2 Garreffa J. (30.), 2:3 Kapel R. (65./SO)

MIGROSS SUPERMERCATI ASIAGO HOCKEY – HCB SÜDTIROL ALPERIA 4:3 (2:0, 1:2, 1:1)
REFEREES: BENVEGNU, SORAPERRA, FLEISCHMANN, RIGONI | Spectators: 1800
Goals ASH: 1:0 Finoro G. (14.), 2:0 Salinitri A. (15.), 3:0 Gazzola R. (21./PP1), 4:3 Salinitri A. (60.)
Goals HCB: 3:1 Miglioranzi E. (24.), 3:2 Halmo M. (28.), 3:3 Alberga D. (43.)

HC PUSTERTAL – SPUSU VIENNA CAPITALS 1:9 (0:4, 1:2, 0:3)
REFEREES: OFNER, TRILAR, PARDATSCHER, SPARER | Spectators: 1890
Goal PUS: 1:4 Ahl F. (22.)
Goals VIC: 0:1 Wall A. (11.), 0:2 Gregoire J. (11.), 0:3 Sheppard J. (16.), 0:4 Bradley M. (20./PP1), 1:5 Bradley M. (32.), 1:6 Bradley M. (39.), 1:7 Gregoire J. (45.), 1:8 Antal P. (48.), 1:9 Pilloni Y. (60./PP1)