Clear victories for the chasing duo

The duel between Steinbach Black Wings Linz and Hydro Fehérvár AV19 started with different omens. While the bottom team from Upper Austria lost two close games recently, the second-placed Hungarians celebrated a clear victory against Znojmo on Friday. Fehervar took this momentum with them and already in the sixth minute Istvan Bartalis took the lead. It was to be the game-winner at the same time, as the Upper Austrians could not beat goalie Daniel Kornakker, who recorded 28 saves. Especially in the middle period, the Linz side had a good period of pressure, in which only the successful conclusion was missing. At the beginning of the third period, however, Anze Kuralt put the score at 0:2 with a precise shot. The very disciplined Hungarians did not take a penalty in the entire game and went up by a Mihaly goal ten minutes before the end. The final point was set by Csanad Erdely with an empty-netter for a 4:0 away win.

Third-placed EC Red Bull Salzburg won Sunday's highest-scoring game in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League against HC TIWAG Innsbruck 6:3 at home. The Red Bulls took the lead early on and managed to pull away at times, but were almost caught up again in between by Innsbruck, who were becoming more dangerous. It was not until the final third that the Salzburgers manifested their playful advantages and won the game clearly and deservedly. Peter Schneider was the match-winner with two goals and two assists. Innsbruck, which is now in seventh place, thus also lost its second game of the "comeback weekend".



Victories for Bolzano and Znojmo
EC-KAC suffered a defeat in the away game at HC Tesla Orli Znojmo after five wins en suite recently: The reigning champions lost after penalty shootout with 2:3, but thus also gained at least a point in their eighth game in a row. The Carinthians got off to a good start, Niki kraus scored in the second minute with a direct shot. The equalizer for the Czechs resulted from a rebound after a blueliner, Radek Prokeš scored from close range (9th). Immediately after the end of the first power play for the home side, Prokeš scored his brace when he netted the puck over the line for 2:1 (21.). The guests equalized a little later, Matt Fraser gave a Unterweger shot the decisive change of direction. Because the following more than 40 minutes, including overtime, remained scoreless, the decision was made in the shootout, in which Tomáš Svoboda scored the final attempt.

HCB Südtirol Alperia, coached by Fabio Armani and Alexander Egger, also celebrated a home victory. The hosts took the lead against Moser Medical Graz99ers in the eleventh minute through Diego Glück, who celebrated his first goal in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League. But the Graz side hit back in the middle period and turned the game around with goals from Ken Ograjensek (21st) and Andrew Gordon (28th/PP). Shortly before the end of the period, the home side also managed a powerplay goal when Dan Catenacci scored to make it 2:2. Finally, it was Mike Halmo who brought about the turnaround again in another PP situation, giving Bolzano the 3:2. The Styrians pressed for the equalizer in the closing minutes, but HCB goalie Justin Fazio held on for the win for the eighth-place South Tyroleans. This means that the tenth-placed Styrians have alternated between victory and defeat for eight games now.



bet-at-home ICE Hockey League, Sun, 05.12.2021:
HCB Südtirol Alperia - Moser Medical Graz99ers 3:2 (1:0, 1:2, 1:0)
Referees: NIKOLIC M., VIRTA, Basso, Rigoni
Goals Bolzano: Glück (11.), Catenacci (39./PP), Halmo (45./PP)
Goals Graz: Ograjensek (21.), Gordon (28./PP)

EC Red Bull Salzburg - HC TIWAG Innsbruck - The Sharks 6:3 (2:0, 2:3, 2:0)
Referees: NIKOLIC K., OFNER, Nothegger, Seewald
Goals Salzburg: P. Huber (3.), Schneider (18., 30./PP), Nissner (32.), Järvinen (44.), Raffl (50.)
Goals Innsbruck: Boruta (25.), Feldner (35.), Leavens (39.)

Steinbach Black Wings Linz - Hydro Fehervar AV 19 0:4 (0:1, 0:0, 0:3)
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Bedynek, Gatol
Goals Fehervar: Bartalis (6.), Kuralt (43.), Mihaly (50.), Erdely (60./EN)

HC Tesla Orli Znojmo - EC-KAC 3:2 SO (1:1, 1:1, 0:0)
Referees: HRONSKY, SOOS, Durmis, Kis-Kiraly
Goals Znojmo: Prokes (9., 21.), Svoboda (PS)
Goals KAC: Kraus (2.), Fraser (25.)