Release from 01.01.2020
Despite losing to Bolzano after shootout on New Year's Day, EC Red Bull Salzburg defended the lead at the top. While the chasing duo spusu Vienna Capitals and HC Orli Znojmo earned runaway wins, the Moser Medical Graz99ers got their 400th victory in a Erste Bank Eishockey Liga regular season game. In addition, Dornbirn Bulldogs celebrated their first season shutout.
Bolzano beat Salzburg on New Year's Day
The game in Bolzano was a mere three minutes old when Ivan Deluca opened the scoring. The fans had to wait 40 more minutes for another goal as Salzburg's 18-year-old Filip Varejcka tied it in the third. The Red Bulls could not capitalize on a 5 on 3 pp and the guests even were lucky when Sebastien Sylvestre hit the post twice. After a goalless overtime, Alberga took the bonus point for Bolzano. The Red Bulls needed the point to stay on top.
Capitals get another runaway victory
The spusu Vienna Capitals beat Fehervar 8:2 with getting another impressive win. They have a four-game winning streak with having a goal difference of 27:3 in these. After only 26 seconds Ty Loney opened the scoring and soon later Ali Wukovits scored the 100th goal of Vienna this season. Both players even got a brace in the first for a 4:0 lead. After the restart Kichton added a brace for Vienna while Girard got the Hungarians on the scoreboard - 6:1. In the third Zalewski and Holzapfel resp. Campbell got their names on the scoring sheet.
Znojmo hurries away in the third
The league's top scorer Anthony Luciani scored made the breakthrough when Znojmo welcomed Linz. Late in the first Svoboda went top shelf for a 2:0 home lead. In the second Linz was the better team but missed several chances. After a goalless second, Znojmo scored four unanswere goals in the third for a 6:0 score. After Umicevic got Linz on the scoreboard, Znojmo's McRae celebrated his hat trick and the Czechs moved up to third place.
Graz gets 400th regular season win
Graz and Klagenfurt met for the second time within five days - KAC won the last 3:2 after shootout at home. This time the Carinthians took the lead again with Manuel Geier scoring the lone first-period goal. In the second the Styrians turned the game around. First, Daniel Oberkofler tied it with a nice finish and just a few seconds before the second intermission Dodero fired a laser beam into the net. Klagenfurt tied it in the third thnaks to Bischofberger's pp goal. After a goalless overtime, Oliver Setzinger became the hero in shootout for Graz' 400th regular season win in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga.
Bulldogs celebrate first shutout
Innsbruck came out hard in their road game at Dornbirn but the guests missed some good chances. After a goalless first, Emilio Romig broke the spell at the halfway point of the game - he batted it in from mid-air on pp. While the Tirolese could not beat strong DEC goalie Juha Järvenpää, Dornbirn's Körkkö made the preliminary decision in the third. With 2:0 the bottom-team got the first shutout win this season.
Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, Round 34:
Wed, 01.01.2020, 17.30 Uhr: spusu Vienna Capitals – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 8:2 (4:0, 2:1, 2:1)
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Gatol, Kaspar; 4.950 spectators
Goals Wien: Loney (1., 10./pp), Wukovits (4., 8.), Kichton (24./sh, 33.), Zalewski (43.), Holzapfel (57.)
Goals Fehervar: Girard (33.), Campbell (50.)
Wed, 01.01.2020, 17.30 Uhr: HC Orli Znojmo – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 7:2 (2:0, 0:0, 5:2)
Referees: TRILAR, ZRNIC, Muzsik, Soos; 2.900 spectators
Goals Znojmo: 1:0 Luciani (3.), 2:0 Svoboda (19.), 3:0 Boruta (43.), 4:0 McRae (49.), 5:0 Berisha (50.), 6:0 McRae (54.), 7:1 McRae (56.)
Goals Linz: 6:1 Umicevic (54.), 7:2 Lebler (58.);
Wed, 01.01.2020, 17.30 Uhr: Moser Medical Graz99ers – EC-KAC 3:2 n.P. (0:1, 2:0, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SIEGEL, Nagy, Nemeth; 4.126 spectators
Goals Graz: 1:1 Oberkofler (34.), 2:1 Dodero (40.), 3:2 Setzinger (PS)
Goals Klagenfurt: 0:1 Geier M. (16./PP), 2:2 Bischofberger (43./PP),
Wed, 01.01.2020, 17.30 Uhr: Dornbirn Bulldogs – HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ 2:0 (0:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Referees: NIKOLIC M., STOLC, Martin, Tschrepitsch; 3.040 spectators
Goals Dornbirn: Romig (31./pp), Körkkö (44.).
Wed, 01.01.2020, 18.00 Uhr: HCB Südtirol Alperia – EC Red Bull Salzburg 2:1 n.P. (1:0, 0:0, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Referees: KOPETZ, NIKOLIC K., Pardatscher, Sparer; 3.600 spectators
Goals Bozen: Deluca (4.), Alberga (PS)
Goal Salzburg: Varejcka (44.)