Close derby wins for Zell am See and Fassa

Polar Bears win Salzburg derby in the shootout
With 2:1 in the shootout, the EK Die Zeller Eisbären prevailed in the Salzburg derby at the Red Bull Hockey Juniors and thus celebrated their fourth win in a row. For the Young Bulls it was the second defeat in the past five games. The guests from Zell am See, who are in fifth place in the table, had a dream start in the game. Already after 66 seconds Hubert Berger put the "Polar Bears" in the lead. The Young Bulls managed to equalize in the 33rd minute in the power play through Daniel Assavolyuk. No further goals were scored in the following periods. In the shootout it was finally Aleksi Hämäläinen who scored the decisive penalty in favor of EKZ. For Zell am See it was the fourth win out of the last five games over RBJ, who are second in the standings, one point behind Cortina.

Kitzbühel wins against Future Team
In a game that was even until the end, the EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel narrowly edged out the EC-KAC Future Team with 5:3. The game-winner was scored by Joonas Niemelä just two minutes before the end of the game. Luis Ludin, who was the only player to score twice, made the final score a little later with an empty-net goal. For Kitzbühel it was already the fourth win in a row and the thirteenth over the Future Team in the 17th AHL duel. In the standings, the Tyroleans climbed to the sixth place. Klagenfurt, which has lost four of its last five games, is eleventh in the table.

Unterland prevails against Ritten
League newcomer Hockey Unterland Cavaliers put an exclamation mark again after three losses in a row lately by beating Alps Hockey League premiere champion Rittner Buam SkyAlps 7:4. Unterland initially took the lead, but were later behind with 1:2 and 2:3 before pulling away to 5:3 and 6:4 respectively. Man of the match in front of almost 600 spectators in the Würth Arena was Santeri Haarala with three goals. For the center it was the first hat trick in the AHL. HCU is in fourth place in the standings, two points behind league leader Cortina. The "Buam", for whom it was the first defeat after previously two wins in a row, are tenth in the table.

Loss for league leader Cortina | Sterzing wins
While league leader S.G. Cortina Hafro lost at the SHC Fassa Falcons with 1:2 after overtime, the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan won at the HC Gherdeina valgardena.it with 5:3. Between both teams it was the first duel in this calendar year. Although Val Gardena took the lead both 1:0, 2:1 and 3:2, Sterzing always had a quick answer. Eleven minutes before the end of the game Remy Giftopoulos finally put the guests in the lead for the first time. Six minutes later Markus Gander scored his second goal of the evening and his fifth goal of the season. For the Broncos it was the first win after two defeats in a row before. Val Gardena lost for the third time in a row.

Cortina had a hard time against Fassa from the beginning. It took until the 46th minute until the first goal was scored. Massimo Pietroniro gave Fassa the lead in the power play. Only 41 seconds later Cortina managed to equalize through Francesco Adami. In the overtime it was finally Diego Iori who shot the table twelfth Fassa to the first derby victory over Cortina since December 30th, 2020. Also then they prevailed in the overtime. Cortina remains at the top of the standings. Their lead over the first chaser, Red Bull Hockey Juniors, is one point. Another point behind them is Jesenice in third place. The Slovenians can jump to the top with a win over Lustenau on Friday.

Alps Hockey League | 20.10.2022:
EC-KAC Future Team – EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 3:5 (1:1, 1:2, 1:2)
Referees: OREL, WIDMANN, Bergant, Jeram. | Spectators: 169
Goals KFT: 1:0 Klassek S. (14. Tavzelj A.), 2:3 Gomboc L. (40. Witting S. – Lippitsch J.), 3:3 Witting S. (57. Gomboc L. – Unterluggauer N.)
Goals KEC: 1:1 Hook L. (15. Ludin L. – Hochfilzer H.), 1:2 Ludin L. (34. Hook L. – Hochfilzer H.), 1:3 Lahnaviik R. (34. Kuronen J. - Jevdokimovs R.), 3:4 Niemelä J. (59. Lahnaviik R. – Wetzl N.), 3:5 Ludin L. (60. Hochfilzer H.)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – EK Die Zeller Eisbären 1:2/SO (0:1, 1:0, 0:0)
Referees: HLAVATY, KAINBERGER, Legat, Schonaklener. | Spectators: 110
Goal RBJ: 1:1 Assavolyuk D. (33./PP1 Weber J. – Bosecker L.)
Goals EKZ: 0:1 Berger H. (2. Widen F. – Schernthaner J.), 1:2 Hämäläinen A. (65./SO)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 3:5 (1:1, 2:2, 0:2)
Referees: LAZZERI, PINIE, Brondi, Pace. | Spectators: 236
Goals GHE: 1:0 McGowan B. (7. Gibbon K. – Linder T.), 2:1 Gibbon K. (24. Linder T. – McGowan B.), 3:2 Cristellon Y. (28./PP1 Glück D.)
Goals WSV: 1:1 Messner M. (18. Giftopoulos R.), 2:2 Gander M. (28./SH1 McBride S.), 3:3 Mizzi J. (40./PP1 De Lorenzo Meo L. – Jokinen J.), 3:4 Giftopoulos R. (50. Nicolai A. – McBride S.), 3:5 Gander M. (56. Giftopoulos R. – Niccolai A.)

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers – Rittner Buam SkyAlps 7:4 (1:2, 4:1, 2:1)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, STEFENELLI, Bedana, Huber. | Spectators: 573
Goals HCU: 1:0 Galassiti G. (14. Kokoska F. – Haarala S.), 2:2 Wieser F. (25./PP1 Markkula M.), 3:3 Haarala S. (33. Sullmann A. – Markkula M.), 4:3 Graf M. (39. Remolato N.), 5:3 Haarala S. (40. Markkula M. – DeNardin E.), 6:4 Haarala S. (46./PP1 Kokoska F. – Nyman L.), 7:4 Markkula M. (59./EN Girardi D. – DeNardin E.)
Goals RIT: 1:1 Cardwell J. (15. Öhler R. – Prast J.), 1:2 Kostner J. (16. Insam M. – Marzolini M.), 2:3 Kostner S. (31. Spinell M. – Fink K.), 5:4 Hofer A. (43. Mäkelä A – Kostner S.)

SHC Fassa Falcons – S.G. Cortina Hafro 2:1/OT (0:0, 0:0, 1:1)
Referees: HOLZER, SCHAUER, Matthey, Moidl. | Spectators: 184
Goals FAS: 1:0 Pietroniro M. (46./PP1 Pietroniro K. – Parmesani Abbott P.), 2:1 Iori D. (64./OT De Toni E. – Sol C.)
Goal SGC: 1:1 De Zanna R. (47. Di Tomaso G. – Cuglietta D.)