Bolzano dominate derby | KAC and VSV also victorious at home

Following their 9:1 home victory in the derby on October 31, HCB Südtirol Alperia delivered another commanding performance in their second home derby of the season. This time, the Foxes defeated HC Falkensteiner Pustertal 7:2, moving Bolzano to fourth place in the standings with a five-point lead over sixth-placed Pustertal. At the same time, the South Tyroleans ended a two-game losing streak. Both losses had been away; at home, Bolzano had earned at least one point in their last seven games, winning five of them. In front of 6,738 fans in the sold-out Sparkasse Arena, the home team started strongly, taking the lead just 93 seconds into the game with a power-play goal from Cole Schneider. Only three and a half minutes later, Daniel Mantenuto extended the lead to 2:0, again on the power play, and Brad McClure made it 3:0 in the 16th minute, giving Bolzano an early edge. The second period saw little change: Pustertal took too many penalties and conceded three more power-play goals. After 40 minutes, the score was already 7:0. In the final period, Bolzano slowed the pace slightly, allowing the visitors to score twice, but it was still the Foxes’ third consecutive derby victory at home.

KAC remain dominant against Linz
League leaders EC-KAC secured a comfortable 4:0 home win against the Steinbach Black Wings Linz, entering the Olympic break with a four-point lead over Graz. For goaltender Sebastian Dahm, it was his fourth shutout of the season. In their fourth win of the season against Linz, the KAC was already ahead 2:0 after just eight minutes thanks to goals from Nick Petersen (7th minute) and Finn van Ee. Petersen not only extended his goal-scoring streak to four games but also added two assists – on Simeon Schwinger’s 3:0 goal (33rd minute) and Matt Fraser’s 4:0 power-play goal (60th minute/PP1). For KAC, it was the second consecutive win, while Linz suffered their 17th away defeat after two recent home wins. In the standings, Linz remain in eighth place, five points ahead of eleventh.

Villach wins goal-fest and climbs to ninth
EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV celebrated an 8:5 home win in a goal-fest against Olimpija Ljubljana, moving the Eagles up to ninth place in the standings with a five-point cushion over eleventh-placed Budapest. In the fourth matchup of the season, it was their first victory against the fifth-placed Slovenian side, who also suffered their first defeat after five consecutive league wins. In front of more than 3,400 fans at the Villach Stadthalle, Adam Helewka and Guus van Nes shone with a hat trick each. Villach never trailed during the game, entering the first intermission with a 2:1 lead. In the second period, the Eagles extended their lead to 4:1, though Ljubljana pulled back to 4:5 by the 38th minute. In the final period, VSV controlled the game, extending the lead to 7:4 by the 57th minute and securing the crucial home win.

win2day ICE Hockey League:
Sun, 01.02.2026:
EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV – Olimpija Ljubljana 8:5 (2:1, 3:3, 3:1)
Referees: NIKOLIC M., SMETANA, Bedynek, Zgonc
Goals VSV: 1:0 Hancock K. (4.), 2:1 MacPherson D. (20.), 3:1 van Nes G. (26.), 4:1 van Nes G. (29./PP1), 5:3 Helewka A. (34.), 6:4 Helewka A. (34.), 7:4 van Nes G. (57.), 8:5 Helewka A. (60.)
Goals OLL: 1:1 Quince M. (14.), 4:2 Drozg J. (33.), 4:3 MacWilliam A. (33.), 5:4 Sodja J. (38.), 7:5 Boychuk Z. (59.)

EC-KAC – Steinbach Black Wings Linz 4:0 (2:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Referees: KAINBERGER, PIRAGIC, Nothegger, Wimmler
Goals KAC: 1:0 Petersen N. (7.), 2:0 van Ee F. (8.), 3:0 Schwinger S. (33.), 4:0 Fraser M. (60./PP1)

HCB Südtirol Alperia – HC Falkensteiner Pustertal 7:2 (3:0, 4:0, 0:2)
Referees: OFNER, STERNAT, Fleischmann, Mantovani
Goals HCB: 1:0 Schneider C. (2./PP1), 2:0 Mantenuto D. (5./PP1), 3:0 McClure B. (16.), 4:0 Gazley D. (22./PP1), 5:0 Pollock B. (31./PP1), 6:0 Diperna D. (32.), 7:0 McClure B. (36./PP1)
Goals HCP: 7:1 Ticar R. (45./PP1), 7:2 Bowlby H. (54.)