Bolzano goes into the new year as league leaders

After eleven wins in a row, EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV suffered a narrow defeat at league leaders HCB Südtirol Alperia in the final game of the year. Brad McClure scored the only goal in the first period with a powerful slap shot. Dylan Di Perna increased the lead shortly after the restart. Marco Richter reduced the deficit in the 29th minute, but Bolzano restored their two-goal lead shortly afterwards with a beautiful goal: Adam Helewka scored after a perfect Salinitri pass. Although Villach fired 41 shots at HCB goalie Sam Harvey, they were unable to score more than 3:2 through Richter.

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 continued their winning streak against the Moser Medical Graz99ers in their third game of the season, winning 3:0 in front of almost 4,800 fans. After Fehérvár goalie Dominik Horvath - who ultimately recorded his second shutout of the season - made a number of outstanding saves in the opening minutes, the Hungarians scored twice within 60 seconds: Brown in the powerplay and Nemeth made it 2:0. The score remained that way until the 52nd minute, when Rasmus Kulmala scored in the slot for the final score. The Hungarians thus remain level on points with Bolzano in second place.

With their fifth win in a row, the EC-KAC moved up to third place, winning 3:0 against Asiago Hockey - giving the "Red Jackets" 25 out of a possible 27 points in December. Matt Fraser (5th) put the home side ahead, the Canadian scoring his twelfth goal of the season with a well-placed wrist shot. It then took until the 28th minute for Daniel Obersteiner to increase the lead to 2:0 while short-handed. The final goal was scored by Clemens Unterweger with an emtpy netter. Goalie Florian Vorauer recorded his first shutout of the season, his seventh win in his seventh start in a KAC home game.

EC Red Bull Salzburg returned to the top 6 with a 3:1 win over the shorthanded HC TIWAG Innsbruck. The reigning champions put the pressure on from the first minute and took a quick 2:0 lead thanks to a brace from Benjamin Nissner (7th/PP, 8th). The Sharks only managed to become dangerous offensively towards the end of the first period, with Patrick Grasso reducing the deficit to 2:1. In the 38th minute, the Red Bulls had the necessary luck on their side: HCI goalie Jakob Brandner cleared a cross-ice pass with his stick, the puck hit Peter Schneider on the helmet and landed in the net from there. The score remained 3:1 until the final buzzer.

Olimpija Ljubljana and the spusu Vienna Capitals played out an open exchange of blows. The Slovenians were already 2:0 ahead after seven minutes. After Predan reduced the deficit at his old stomping ground, Rudolf Cerveny made it 3:1 on power play. 36 seconds before the end of the period, however, Cramarossa made it 3:2, and the visitors even equalised in the middle period (Gregoire, 38). Just when it looked like overtime was on the cards, Cerveny scored in the 59th minute to give Olimpija the lead again. Marcel Mahkovec's second goal (this time into an empty net) ensured the final score. This was Olimpija's fourth win in a row under interim head coach Andrej Tavželj. The eighth-placed Slovenians now have a six-point lead over ninth-placed Vienna.

After three wins in a row - including the sensational success in Salzburg - the Pioneers Vorarlberg suffered a bitter setback in the play-off race. Despite taking an early lead through Marlon Tschofen, the hosts were beaten 2:5 by HC Pustertal. The South Tyroleans capitalised on the Pioneers' mistakes in the middle period and scored all five goals - three of them within 67 seconds. Brett Findlay even scored twice in this period. The team from Bruneck now has a seven-point lead over the eleventh-placed Pioneers.

win2day ICE Hockey League:
Monday, 30.12.2024:
EC-KAC - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 3:0 (1:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Referees: GROZNIK, SIEGEL, Bedynek, Puff.
Goals KAC: Fraser (5.), Obersteiner (28./SH), Unterweger (59./EN)

EC Red Bull Salzburg - HC TIWAG Innsbruck 3:1 (2:1, 1:0, 0:0)
Referees: HRONSKY, STERNAT, Jedlicka, Seewald J.
Goals Salzburg: Nissner (7./PP, 8.), Schneider (38.)
Goal Innsbruck: Grasso (20.)

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 - Moser Medical Graz99ers 3:0 (2:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Konc, Muzsik.
Goals Fehérvár: Brown (14./PP), Nemeth (15.), Kulmala (52.)

Olimpija Ljubljana - spusu Vienna Capitals 5:3 (3:2, 0:1, 2:0)
Referees: PIRAGIC, REZEK, Hribar, Vaczi.
Goals Olimpija: Masic (3.), Mahkovec (7., 60./EN), Cerveny (16./PP, 59./PP)
Goals Capitals: Predan (13.), Cramarossa (20.), Gregoire (38.)

Pioneers Vorarlberg - HC Pustertal 2:5 (1:0, 1:5, 0:0)
Referees: BERNEKER, NIKOLIC K., Martin, Sparer.
Goals Pioneers: Tschofen (6.), Passolt (38.)
Goals Pustertal: Findlay (21., 38.), Purdeller (31.), Andersen (32.), Lacroix (32.)

HCB Südtirol Alperia - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV 3:2 (1:0, 2:1, 0:1)
Referees: HUBER, OFNER, Mantovani, Pardatscher.
Goals Bolzano: McClure (17.), Di Perna (21.), Helewka (31.)
Goals Villach: Richter (29., 56.)