Carinthian teams celebrate victories | Salzburg defeats Linz

The EC-KAC also won their fourth game of the season against the spusu Vienna Capitals, impressively demonstrating their strong form. In front of 4,311 fans in the Heidi Horten Arena, they celebrated a commanding 6:1 home win in which Nick Petersen scored his first brace of the season. The hosts set a fast pace right from the start and led 2:0 after just 14 minutes. In the second period, they made things clear by pulling away to 4:0 by the 35th minute. The Capitals only scored a consolation goal in the 47th minute to make it 1:4, but the KAC did not give in and eventually increased the score to 6:1. With this success, the EC-KAC secured their eleventh win from the last twelve games and reduced the gap to leaders Fehérvár to just one point. The Capitals, on the other hand, remain in tenth place in the table, seven points ahead of the eleventh-placed Pioneers.

Villach returns to winning ways
EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV returned to winning ways with a 3:1 home victory against HCB Südtirol Alperia after the Villach team had recently suffered two clear defeats in a row. They also had to chase a deficit against Bolzano. Cole Hults made it 0:1 in the 19th minute, but the “Eagles” turned up the heat in the middle period and turned the game around with goals from Philipp Lindner (25.), Maximilian Rebernig (35.) and Daniil Kulintsev (36.). In the final period, the home side skillfully defended their lead in front of 3,250 fans. VSV thus climbed to sixth place in the table, albeit with the same number of points as seventh-placed Linz. Bolzano were beaten for the second time in a row and are still four points behind league leaders Fehérvár.

Close home win for Salzburg against Linz
3,400 fans in the sold-out Eisarena Salzburg saw a game at eye level in which EC Red Bull Salzburg narrowly won 3:1 against Steinbach Black Wings Linz. After Raphael Wolf gave the visitors an early lead (2.), the Red Bulls turned the game around with goals from Peter Schneider (23.) and Lucas Thaler (29.). Shortly before the end of the game, the home side finally made everything clear. The Black Wings fired a total of 38 shots on RBS goalie David Kickert's goal, while Salzburg only managed 23. In the end, however, it was the third win in a row for the fourth-placed team, while Linz conceded their first defeat after two wins in a row and slipped to seventh place in the table.

Pustertal's resounding win against league leaders Fehérvár
In front of a sold-out crowd (3,104), HC Pustertal won against league leaders Hydro Fehérvár AV19. In a one-sided game, the South Tyroleans clearly won 5:0 and celebrated their second impressive victory in a row - on Friday they ended the EC-KAC's ten-game winning streak. The home side took a 2:0 lead after just over seven minutes with goals from Tommy Purdeller (5.) and Alex Petan (8./PP1). HCP also scored twice in the middle period and the ninth-placed team added another goal in the final period. In the end, five different players got on the scoresheet. Goaltender Eddie Pasquale celebrated his first shutout in Pustertal's kit. For Fehérvár, it was one of two defeats in their last five games. They are now just one point ahead of first-pursuer Klagenfurt in the table. Pustertal, on the other hand, are already ten points ahead of the eleventh-placed Pioneers.

Graz defeats in-form Pioneers
The Vorarlberg team lost 1:2 at home to the Moser Medical Graz99ers, with defenseman Jimmy Oligny scoring his first goals in a Styrian jersey (4., 33.). Josh Passolt scored the Pioneers' only goal in the 55th minute on the power play. The Pioneers had further good chances in the final minutes, but G99 goalkeeper Nicolas Wieser could not be beaten a second time. It was the eighth appearance of the season for the 27-year-old, who extended his contract for another two seasons on Saturday. The in-form Pioneers were beaten for the first time after three wins in a row. Graz, who also won the first duel of the season in Feldkirch 2:1, celebrated one of three wins from their last five games and are fifth in the table, two points ahead of seventh place.

In the sixth game, Olimpija Ljubljana won 3:2 at Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey. The game-winner was scored by former NHL star Nick Bonino just under five minutes before the end of the game. It was one of eight wins from the last ten games for the eighth-placed team from Slovenia, while Asiago suffered its 16th defeat in a row and is bottom of the table.

win2day ICE Hockey League:
Sunday12. Jänner:
EC Red Bull Salzburg – Steinbach Black Wings Linz 3:1 (0:1, 2:0, 1:0)
Referees: PIRAGIC, STERNAT, Weiss, Zgonv | Spectators: 3.400
Goals RBS: 1:1 Schneider P. (23.), 2:1 Thaler L. (29.), 3:1 Raffl T. (60.)
Goal BWL: 0:1 Wolf R. (2.)

Pioneers Vorarlberg – Moser Medical Graz99ers 1:2 (0:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Referees: BERNEKER, NIKOLIC K, Martin, Seewald J| Spectators: 1.961
Goal PIV: 1:2 Passolt J. (56./PP1)
Goals G99: 0:1 Oligny J. (4.), 0:2 Oligny J. (33.)

HC Pustertal – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 5:0 (2:0, 2:0, 1:0)
Referees: GROZNIK, OFNER, Pardatscher, Zacherl | Spectators: 3.104
Goals HCP: 1:0 Purdeller T. (5.), 2:0 Petan A. (8.), 3:0 Findlay B. (37.), 4:0 Deluca I. (40.), 5:0 Anderson O. (56.)

EC-KAC – spusu Vienna Capitals 6:1 (2:0, 2:0, 2:1)
Referees: HRONSKY, HUBER A, Bärnthaler, Konc | Spectators: 4.311
Goals KAC: 1:0 Petersen N. (11./PP1), 2:0 Unterweger C. (14.), 3:0 Petersen N. (30.), 4:0 Obersteiner D. (35.), 5:1 From M. (48.), 6:1 Peeters S. (57.)
Goal VIC: 4:1 Predan A. (47.)

EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV – HCB Südtirol Alperia 3:1 (0:1, 3:0, 0:0)
Referees: REZEK, SMETANA, Hribar, Riecken | Spectators: 3.250
Goals VSV: 1:1 Lindner P. (25.), 2:1 Rebernig M. (35.), 3:1 Kulintsev D. (36.)
Goal HCB: 0:1 Hults C. (19.)

Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey – Olimpija Ljubljana 2:3 (2:2, 0:0, 0:1)
Referees: NIKOLIC M, SCHAUER, Mantovani, Rigoni | Spectators: 1.682
Goals ASH: 1:0 Gennaro M. (2.), 2:2 Kaspick T. (18.)
Goals OLL: 1:1 Kerbashian K. (9.), 1:2 Cerveny R. (15.), 2:3 Bonino N. (55.)