Fehérvár extends lead at the top of the table

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 celebrated their seventh home win in a row on Tuesday, as the league leaders beat bottom team Graz. The man of the match was Balint Magosi, who scored his first hat-trick in the win2day ICE Hockey League. The 34-year-old put the Hungarians ahead in the sixth minute and added another in the first period. The Styrians, with Nicolas Wieser in goal, equalised with a brace in the final period, but Magosi scored again to make it 3:2 and record the game-winner. In the end, the hosts won 5:2 and extended their lead at the top of the table.

Chasing trio suffer defeats
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are still in second place, nine points behind. The Upper Austrians took the lead in their home game against Innsbruck in the ninth minute with a powerplay goal from Emilio Romig, but the Tyroleans turned it in their favour in the middle period. Kevin Roy equalised 15 seconds after the restart, Corey Mackin then made it 2:1. I nthe final minute, Seena Peeters added an empty netter to give Innsbruck an important victory in the race for the top six. After nine home wins in a row, the Black Wings had to admit defeat again.

The EC-KAC is in third place. The Carinthians managed to gain at least one point for the eighth time in a row on Tuesday evening, but had to accept defeat in their visit to HK Olimpija Ljubljana, just like a month ago. Despite leading by three goals at one stage, the Red Jackets lost to the Slovenians 6:7 after shootout. Miha Zajc emerged as the match-winner, having four goals and one assist in regulation time and scoring the only goal in the shootout. The Dragons thus kept their direct rivals at bay in the race for the pre-playoffs.

The spusu Vienna Capitals also won their third game of the season against EC Red Bull Salzburg, who are still fourth. After a goalless first period, Lukas Piff put the Capitals ahead with a well-placed shot into the corner of the net. Seven seconds before the end of a four-minute powerplay, the visitors equalised in the 34th minute through Peter Hochkofler. In the final period, Mathias Böhm gave the Capitals the lead again with his first goal of the season, in the end the hosts held on for a 3:2 victory in front of almost 4,500 fans. Vienna improved to eleventh place with their second victory in a row.

Bolzano and Pioneers turn games in their favour
HCB Südtirol Alperia prevailed against EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV in a duel between two top six teams. Although Villach took the lead with a goal from Hughes, Bolzano decided the game in its favour in the middle period. Thomas, Valentine and Miceli scored within nine minutes. The Carinthians were able to reduce the deficit, but the runners-up managed to hold on to their narrow 3:2 lead. With their fourth win in a row, the "Foxes" extended their advantage to seventh place to six points.

The second South Tyrolean club, on the other hand, did not enjoy a sense of achievement. Although HC Pustertal took the lead in their home game against BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg in the ninth minute, the visitors equalised just 20 seconds later. Guus van Nes turned the game around in the 15th minute with his first of three goals in favour of the Pioneers, who pulled away to 6:2 by the 49th minute - top scorer Steve Owre also scored twice. After the brilliant victory in Salzburg, Pustertal were ultimately beaten 3:6.

win2day ICE Hockey League, 26.12.2023:
spusu Vienna Capitals - EC Red Bull Salzburg 3:2 (0:0, 1:1, 2:1)
Referees: FICHTNER, HRONSKY, Gatol-Schafranek, Jedlicka.
Goals Vienna: Piff (30.), Böhm (47.), Kainz (60./EN)
Goals Salzburg: Hochkofler (34./PP), Murphy (60.)

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 - Moser Medical Graz99ers 5:2 (2:0, 0:0, 3:2)
Referees: GROZNIK, RENCZ, Muzsik, Vaczi.
Goals Fehervar: Magosi (6., 15., 48.), Bartalis (57./SH), Hari (60./EN)
Goals Graz: Krainz (44.), Salinitri (47.)

Steinbach Black Wings Linz - HC TIWAG Innsbruck 1:3 (1:0, 0:2, 0:1)
Referees: HLAVATY, SMETANA, Moidl, Wimmler.
Goal Linz: Romig (9./PP)
Goals Innsbruck: Roy (21.), Mackin (27.), Peeters (60./EN)

HK SZ Olimpija - EC-KAC 7:6 SO (0:3, 3:1, 3:2)
Referees: PIRAGIC, ZRNIC, Hribar, Zgonc.
Goals Ljubljana: Bicevskis (24./PP), Zajc (26., 29., 48./PP, 55./PP, 65./dec. penalty), Gooch (55.)
Goals KAC: Sablattnig (9.), Ganahl (17./PP), Haudum (19., 45./PP), Bischofberger (33./PP), Fraser (53.)

HCB Südtirol Alperia - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV 3:2 (0:1, 3:1, 0:0)
Referees: M. NIKOLIC, REZEK, Pardatscher, Weiss.
Goals Bolzano: Thomas (22.), Valentine (24.), Miceli (31.)
Goals Villach: Hughes (11.), Luciani (33.)

HC Pustertal - BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg 3:6 (2:3, 0:1, 1:2)
Referees: HUBER, SCHAUER, Eisl, Sparer.
Goals Pustertal: Ikonen (9.), Sill (17., 59./PP)
Goals Vorarlberg: Kirichenko (9.), van Nes (15., 20./PP, 41.), Owre (40./PP, 49.)

Photo: Soós Attila