Clear derby win for Klagenfurt | Goalie goal by Atte Tolvanen

4,406 fans in the completely sold-out Heidi Horten Arena witnessed a furious Klagenfurt from the start. Mathias From put the EC-KAC ahead in the 358th Carinthian derby after just 23 seconds. The Danish forward also scored in the second period and increased the lead to 4:0. Simeon Schwinger also shone with a brace. The KAC were already comfortably 3:0 ahead after the first period, with the third goal coming from Thimo Nickl, who scored his first professional goal in the jersey of his youth club. Little changed in the second period either. The KAC continued to dominate and increased the score with four more goals. The visitors from Villach, currently sixth in the table, were rarely dangerous in front of goal and also remained pale in the final period. Klagenfurt, on the other hand, continued to be hungry for goals, scored twice more and celebrated a commanding 8:0 victory in the end. Goalkeeper Sebastian Dahm was hardly challenged and kept a clean sheet for the fifth time this season. It was the ninth win in a row for the KAC. Due to the simultaneous defeat of Bolzano in Graz, Klagenfurt overtook the South Tyroleans in the table and are now only one point behind leaders Fehérvár in second place. The 8:0 victory was also the highest derby win against Villach since December 26, 2021, when the KAC triumphed 9:1 in front of a home crowd.

Goalie goal by Atte Tolvanen in Salzburg's home win
Defending champions EC Red Bull Salzburg beat league leaders Hydro Fehérvár AV19 4:1 to move up to fifth place. The highlight of the game was provided by Salzburg goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen, who scored the final goal one minute before the end of the game. It was the Finn's second goal in a Red Bulls shirt. Salzburg dominated from the start and took a comfortable 3:0 lead after 22 minutes. Fehérvár fought back and reduced the deficit to 1:3. In the final phase, the visitors threw everything forward and took goalkeeper Rasmus Reijola off the ice. But Tolvanen seized the opportunity and sealed Salzburg's victory with his empty net goal. It was the third win in the last five games for the Red Bulls. Fehérvár, on the other hand, suffered another defeat after two wins in a row and already the third in the third season duel with Salzburg.

Linz almost let a 3:0 lead slip away
After five defeats in a row, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz returned to winning ways against the spusu Vienna Capitals. The Upper Austrians were already leading 3:0 after 26 minutes, but still had to go into overtime in the end, in which Shawn St-Amant scored in the power play to decide the game. The forward also scored to give them a 1:0 lead in the meantime. The Capitals were unimpressed by the 0:3 and reduced the deficit to 2:3 with a double strike in the 27th and 29th minute. Jeremy Gregoire finally equalized the score seven minutes before the end of the game. In the end, however, the team in tenth place conceded their second defeat in a row. Their lead over the eleventh-placed Pioneers is seven points. The Black Wings are in seventh place, but have the same number of points as sixth-placed Villach and are only two points behind fourth-placed Graz.

Graz's first win of the season against Bolzano
The Moser Medical Graz99ers beat HCB Südtirol Alperia by the narrow margin of 2:1. It was the first win of the season for the fourth-placed team in the table against the new third-placed team. The Styrians led 2:0 after just seven minutes thanks to goals from Frank Hora (5.) and Casey Bailey (8.), with Dustin Gazley (27.) scoring South Tyrol's only goal. Jonas Gunnarsson in goal for the 99ers held on to the win with 30 saves. It was Graz's second win in a row, while Bolzano suffered one of two defeats in the last five games.

Ljubljana with important home win against Pustertal
Olimpija Ljubljana confirmed its very strong form with a 2:1 home win against HC Pustertal. The team from Slovenia, eighth in the table, celebrated one of seven wins from its last eight games to extend the gap on ninth-placed Bruneck to ten points. However Pustertal had a dream start. Davide Conci put the “Wolves” ahead after just eleven seconds. However, HCP were then unable to overcome Lukas Horak in the Ljubljana goal. The Czech saved 30 shots on his goal. In offense, it took until the 29th minute before Arvin Atwal equalized. The game-winner was finally scored by Robert Sabolic just eight minutes before the end of the game. It was the second defeat in a row for Pustertal. However, their lead over the eleventh-placed Pioneers remains seven points.

In addition, HC TIWAG Innsbruck clearly got the upper hand at Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey with 9:2. The “Sharks”, who handed over the red lantern in the table to the Italians, took the lead after just 20 seconds. After five minutes, they had already taken a 3:0 lead. A short time later, Asiago were also able to score for the first time. The HCI added four goals in the second period and also scored twice in the final period. In the end, Innsbruck celebrated their first win after seven consecutive defeats. Asiago were beaten for the 14th time in a row.

win2day ICE Hockey League:
Wednesday, 08.01.2025:
Moser Medical Graz99ers – HCB Südtirol Alperia 2:1 (2:0, 0:1, 0:0)
Referees: HUBER A., OFNER, Jedlicka, Konc. | Spectators: 2.025
Goals G99: 1:0 Hora F. (5.), 2:0 Bailey C. (8.)
Goal HCB: 2:1 Gazley D. (27.)

EC-KAC – EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV 8:0 (3:0, 3:0, 2:0)
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Bärnthaler, Zgonc. | Spectators: 4.406
Goals KAC: 1:0 From M. (1.), 2:0 Schwinger S. (11.), 3:0 Nickl T. (16./PP1), 4:0 From M. (24.), 5:0 Schwinger S. (25.), 6:0 Unterweger C. (30./PP1), 7:0 Obersteiner D. (54.), 8:0 Peeters S. (60.)

EC Red Bull Salzburg – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 4:1 (2:0, 1:1 1:0)
Referees: SCHAUER, ZRNIC, Nothegger, Riecken. | Spectators: 2.723
Goals RBS: 1:0 Huber M. (8./PP1), 2:0 Lewington T. (11.), 3:0 Thaler L. (22.), 4:1 Tolvanen A. (59./EN)
Goal AVS: 3:1 Berger C. (26.)

Steinbach Black Wings Linz – spusu Vienna Capitals 4:3/OT (1:0, 2:2, 0:1, 1:0)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SIEGEL, Gatol-Schafranek, Seewald J. | Spectators: 3.400
Goals BWL: 1:0 St-Amant S. (9.), 2:0 Lebler B. (21./PP1), 3:0 Ograjensek K. (27./PP1), 4:3/OT St-Amant S. (62./PP1)
Goals VIC: 3:1 Franklin Z. (27.), 3:2 Cramarossa J. (29.), 3:3 Gregoire J. (54.)

Olimpija Ljubljana – HC Pustertal 2:1 (0:1, 1:0, 1:0)
Referees: NAGY, STERNAT, Hribar, Puff. | Spectators: 1.578
Goals OLL: 1:1 Atwal A. (29.), 2:1 Sabolic R. (53.)
Goal HCP: 0:1 Conci D. (1.)

Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey – HC TIWAG Innsbruck 2:9 (1:3, 0:4, 1:2)
Referees: GROZNIK, REZEK, Pardatscher, Rigoni. | Spectators: 1.116
Goals ASH: 1:3 Porco N. (9.), 2:9 Gennaro M. (59./SH1)
Goals HCI: 0:1 Bracco J. (1.), 0:2 Hirano Y. (5.), 0:3 Mackin C. (6.), 1:4 Grasso P. (24.), 1:5 Rassell M. (25.), 1:6 Mackin C. (32.), 1:7 Hirano Y. (37.), 1:8 Grasso P. (41.), 1:9 Rassell M. (50.)