Bolzano wins fourth straight | Linz again ties with Villach

Bolzano secures second spot for the moment
The HCB Südtirol Alperia secured the second spot in the Pick Round for the moment, as the South Tyrolean dominated at spusu Vienna Capitals 4:1 to win the fourth straight. With three games left the “foxes” have a 6-point-advantage to third-ranked EC-KAC, while Vienna dropped to fourth place after the fourth loss in a row. Jamie Arniel after 25 seconds and Stefano Giliati (5.) cleared it early for the guests, which scored two more unanswered in the second to take a huge road win.

Salzburg finishes Pick Round top-2 anyways
After the 4:3 shootout-win at EC-KAC the EC Red Bull Salzburg remains unbeaten in the Pick Round and will finish top-2 anyways, which guarantees home ice advantage in possible semifinal series too. The “Red Bulls” had to tie the game twice in Klagenfurt, after the early lead thanks to Peter Hochkofler (8.) slipped away in the second, as the hosts convinced on powerplay. Thomas Raffl (28./PP1) and John Hughes (49.) each scored the equalizer and Janos Hari grabbed the extra point in the shootout.



Linz ties standings in Qualification Round
The EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz tied with EC Panaceo VSV in standings of Qualification Round after a 5:2 win in Villach. With a brace of Rick Schofield the guests turned around an early 0:1 deficit and rebuild the lead in the second with Brian Lebler managed to make his third assist, as Steven Oleksy scored his first goal in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. After Bernd Wolf (49.) made it hot again in the last, a mistake of Brandon Maxwell gave Justin Floreck the quick answer to fasten the 500th win in a regular season game of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga since 2003/04.



Znojmo sweeps Innsbruck in regular season | Dornbirn takes revenge
With a 3:2 home win the HC Orli Znojmo delivered the season sweep over HC TWK Innsbruck “die Haie” to jump back on third spot in the Qualification Round. John Lammers tied it with six seconds left in the second for the Austrian side, as the Czechs got the preliminary decision with two goals within three minutes in the last. Znojmo now has a two-point advantage to fourth-ranked Hydro Fehérvár AV19 in the race for the playoffs. The Hungarian side suffered a 2:3 loss at Dornbirn Bulldogs, which took revenge on the harsh 1:9 blowout on Sunday. Kevin Macierzynski got the win for the bottom-placed team with a brace.

Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, 6. Pick Round:
Tu, 17.02.2020, 19.15: spusu Vienna Capitals – HCB Südtirol Alperia 1:4 (0:2, 0:2, 1:0)
Referees: OFNER, SIEGEL, Bärnthaler, Kaspar. | Spectators: 3.600
Goal VIC: Rotter (49./PP1)
Goals HCB: Arniel (1.), Giliati (5.), Bardaro (32.), Wiercioch (34.)

Tu, 17.02.2020, 19.15: EC-KAC – EC Red Bull Salzburg 3:4 SO (0:1, 2:1, 1:1)
Referees: PIRAGIC, ZRNIC, Hribar, Rezek. | Spectators: 3.521
Goals KAC: Ticar (22./PP2), Comrie (23./PP1), Koch (43./PP1)
Goal RBS: Hochkofler (9.), Raffl (28./PP1), Hughes (49.), Hari (65./PS)

Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, 6. Qualification Round:
Tu, 17.02.2020, 18.30: HC Orli Znojmo – HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ 3:2 (0:0, 1:1, 2:1)
Referees: PEARCE (CAN), SMETANA, Gatol, Nagy. | Spectators: 2.354
Goals ZNO: Miklis (23.), Bowles (51.), Oscadal (54.)
Goals HCI: Lammers (40./PP1), Spurgeon (54.)

Tu, 17.02.2020, 19.15: EC Panaceo VSV – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 2:5 (1:2, 0:1, 1:2)
Referees: GRUBER, NIKOLIC M., Nedeljkovic, Schauer. | Spectators: 2.891
Goals VSV: Karlsson (9.), Wolf (49.)
Goals BWL: Schofield (10., 14./PP1), Oleksy (31.), Florek (50.), Brucker (59./EN)

Tu, 17.02.2020, 19.15: Dornbirn Bulldogs – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 3:2 (2:1, 1:1, 0:0)
Referees: NIKOLIC K., STOLC, Sparer, Tschrepitsch. | Spectators: 2.038
Goals DEC: Macierzynski (5., 36.), Bau Hansen (9.)
Goals AVS: Yogan (7./PP1), Kaljomaa (24.)