First half of the regular season ends on Sunday

Four facts before game day 22:

• Depending on the result of Saturdays only game between Salzburg and Vienna, four teams can get the chance for being league’s best team after 22 rounds on Sunday. (G99, HCB, KAC, VIC)
• The EC KAC will have this chance for the first time this season. 
• Its home game against reigning champion HCB Südtirol Alperia will be broadcasted live in the Servus Hockey Night. 
• The HC Orli Znojmo holds the longest winning streaks among all teams and is the only team unbeaten in November. 

Sun, 25.11.2018: EC Red Bull Salzburg – HC Orli Znojmo (16:00)
Referees: NIKOLIC K., SCHUTZ, Hofer, Kontschieder

• After hosting spusu Vienna Capitals on Saturday, the EC Red Bull Salzburg plays two home games in less than 24 hours.
• Salzburg’s form curve points downwards: The vice-champion gained only one point out of nine possible in the last three games after the international break.
• Znojmo still has a clear sheet in November and currently holds the longest winning streak of all teams (5 straight wins). 
• After being down 0:2, Salzburg won the season’s first encounter 4:3.
• The Red Bulls won eleven out of twelve games against the “red eagles” in the past. The Czechs last win in Salzburg was on April 5th, 2016 (7:3).
• Salzburg has the best offense available with making 4,05 goals on average a game.

Greg Poss (Headcoach EC Red Bull Salzburg): „Every single player of my team needs his best performance available, to get a win. We tested some young players in the last games in which we were not constant through 60 minutes. But it is definitely time for a win.”

Sun, 25.11.2018: Moser Medical Graz 99ers – KHL Medvescak Zagreb (16.00)
Referees: SIEGL, SMETANA, Bärnthaler, Kaspar

• Despite suffering the sixth defeat this season on Friday, the Moser Medical Graz 99ers stays on the top of the league.
• Graz is among league’s best home team with nine wins in ten games.
• 11th placed KHL Medvescak Zagreb only won two of its nine road games this season.
• The 99ers are strong with a man advantage with leading power play stats (26,6%). Zagreb is ranked 10th in this statistic.
• Graz won the first season meeting 4:2 and celebrated the second consecutive win against the “bears”. Four of the last five games were won by the home team.

Doug Mason (Headcoach Moser Medical Graz 99ers): „We were not ready in Linz. We struggled in the first, while the black wings played well. We took too many penalties, which we have to adjust till the game against Zagreb. We need to be ready from the first second on.”

Aaron Fox (Headcoach KHL Medvescak Zagreb): “Graz is going to be a difficult game. They are first in the league, so we expect them to play hard especially at home. We had a some really bad luck with injuries and coming with a extremely short bench so we will need to play extra smart and disciplined.”

Sun, 25.11.2018: EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz – Fehervar AV19 (17.30)
Referees: OFNER, PIRAGIC, Nemeth, Soos

• On Friday the sixth ranked EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz celebrated its fifth consecutive home win.
• After a home win against EC Panaceo VSV, Fehervar AV19 ist ranked ninth. 
• In the first season meeting we saw 11 goals with Linz getting a 6:5 overtime win. There were a lot of goals in the past games between these two teams too (9 resp. 12). 
• Linz won the last five games against Fehervar. The Hungarians last road win in Upper Austria was on January 5th, 2016 (4:3 OT).
• Both teams currently best scorers, made goals in the past meetings too: Linz’ Brian Lebler (11 goals 18/19) scored in the past six consecutive games against Fehervar, while Janos Hari (8 goals 18/19) in the past three.

Daniel Woger (EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz): „We need to play a good game on Sunday too to get again three points. Otherwise our huge win against Graz on Friday was not that important.”

Hannu Järvenpää (Headcoach Fehervar AV19): “The win against Villach gave us a boost, but we need to pick up on the road too. We need to be more concentrated and effective in front of opponent’s net. I am very proud of my players, but there is still room to improve.”

Sun, 25.11.2018: EC KAC – HCB Südtirol Alperia (17.30, www.servushockeynight.at live)
Referees: NIKOLIC M., TRILAR, Hribar, Schauer

• After celebrating the 4th consecutive win on Friday (4:2 @Znojmo), the EC KAC climbed to the third place in standings. 
• On Sunday the Carinthians for the first time this season have the chance to take the lead in standings. 
• Champion HCB Südtirol Alperia lost twice last week and is still second in standings, only one point in front of its next opponent. The South Tyrolean did not lose three games in a row this season. 
• After being down 0:2, the EC KAC won the first season meeting 4:2. 
• This game is a battle of the best two defensive teams in the league with KAC got 41 goals against and HCB 45. 
• Both teams have a great PK available. (85,7% HCB | 84,0% KAC)

Christoph Duller (EC KAC): „We are very happy about our winning streak. It is about teamwork, in which everybody is involved. The game against the foxes will be a tough one, because they played great the past road games. But we are full of self-confidence to get another win and move up in standings again.”

Angelo Miceli (HCB Südtirol Alperia): “Against Innsbruck and Znojmo we were not able to express our best game. Playing in Klagenfurt is always difficult, but for us it's an opportunity to get our heads up and show what we can do.”

Sun, 25.11.2018: HC TWK Innsbruck “Die Haie“ – spusu Vienna Capitals (17:30)
Referees: BULOVEC, STOLC, Pardatscher, Zgonc

• A harsh 3:5 defeat in the west derby on Friday was HC TWK Innsbruck “Die Haie” first loss after four consecutive road wins. 
• The 4th ranked spusu Vienna Capitals are on a road trip with opening the weekend in Salzburg on Saturday before moving on to Innsbruck. 
• The Caps outclassed the sharks in the first season meeting. They were ahead 8:0 and won 8:2 in the end.
• Vienna’s last win after regular time is more than a month ago (October 21st | 5:2 vs. Linz). Since that, they gained only four out of 24 possible points.
• Innsbruck only won one of the last eleven home games against Vienna.

Robert Pallin (Headcoach HC TWK Innsbruck “Die Haie“): „There are no easy games in this league. If you look at Vienna’s roster, they have great players available. We need to give our best to get points on Sunday.”

Mario Fischer (spusu Vienna Capitals): „We need to step up on the defensive end, because we gave our opponents too many opportunities in the past games. We are fighting every game, but we need to more effective in front of the net. We need to go to the dirty areas.”

Sun, 25.11.2018: Dornbirn Bulldogs – EC Panaceo VSV (17:30)
Referees: BERNEKER, KELLNER, Sparer,Tschrepitsch

• With a 5:3 win in the west derby the Dornbirn Bulldogs ended their losing streak in five consecutive games.
• The EC Panaceo VSV lost at Fehervar 2:4. It was Villach’s 13th consecutive loss on the road. 
• The Bulldogs won the season’s first encounter by shutout 4:0. Each Joel Broda and Kevin Macierzynski scored twice. It was VSV’s first of three games this season without making a goal.
• Villach only got one win in the last four games at Dornbirn. 

Kevin Macierzynski (Dornbirn Bulldogs): „We worked hard on our powerplay performance last week. We need to be more effective in front of opponent’s net. That’s what we have to do against Villach too.”