Home teams win on Boxing Day

In the 13th home game of the season, Jesenice celebrated its 13th victory. The game against the Rittner Buam SkyAlps was initially without major highlights, then in the 14th minute the home side took the lead through Ulamec. After the restart it became goal-rich. First the home team went up 3:0 within two minutes. Jakob Prast reduced the lead a little later after a well-placed shot from an acute angle, and in the final phase of the middle period the visitors even came close to scoring again, but neither Giacomuzzi nor Julian Kostner found the back of the net. Jesenice did better in the third period: first Hawkey was still on the spot against Polcs, but the rebound by Pance was unstoppable for the Ritten goalkeeper. Ulamec scored an empty netter to make the final score 5:1.

Cortina and Unterland still on course for top-5
Cortina took revenge for the defeat in the first season derby against Fassa with a clear 5:0 win. The home side were superior to the Falcons in all facets, and after 60 minutes the shooting statistics were also very clear at 58:14. Riccardo Lacedelli gave the hosts the lead after eight minutes, and the score remained 1:0 until the first intermission. In the 25th minute, Mikael Saha increased the lead, and Cortina scored twice towards the end of the period for the preliminary decision. In the last period, Saha scored his second goal of the night to make the final score. With this success Cortina defended third place.

One place behind and thus on course for direct playoff qualification is Unterland. The newcomer to the league played an open battle with the Steel Wings, in which the Upper Austrians initially took the lead twice. In the middle frame, however, the South Tyroleans turned the game in their favor. The home side did not relinquish a two-goal lead after 40 minutes and in the end celebrated a 6:4 victory over the last team in the table. Miro Markkula recorded a four-point night (one goal, three assists).

Kitzbühel and Zell am See celebrate comeback victories
The Wipptal Broncos conceded their fourth defeat in a row in Kitzbühel. The team from Sterzing was 2:0 ahead after the first period. In the middle period Patrick Bolterle got the hosts on the scoreboard on pwoer play, but Joseph Mizzi restored the two-goal gap in the 42nd minute. However, the visitors lost the thread due to indiscipline and the Tyroleans turned the game in their favor with three power play goals - Jimi Kuronen even recorded a brace. With an empty-net goal Kitzbühel fixed the 5:3 home victory.

In addition, the Zeller Eisbären celebrated an incredibly exciting 7:6 overtime home victory against EC Bregenzerwald. The guests already had a three-goal lead in the middle period, after a Lipsbergs hat trick they were ahead until the 57th minute. Then Daniel Ban managed to equalize at 6:6 and it went into overtime. With 28 seconds left, Tomi Wilenius hammered the puck over the line to make it 7:6 and give new coach Mike Flanagan a positive home debut in front of more than 2,000 spectators.

Alps Hockey League | 26.12.2022:
HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice – Rittner Buam SkyAlps 5:1 (1:0,2:1,2:0)
Referees: KUMMER, REZEK, Bergant, Javornik.
Goals 1:0 JES Ulamec L. (13:19 / Polcs R. / EQ), 2:0 JES Rep O. (24:06 / Pance E. ,Blomberg N. / EQ), 3:0 JES Logar M. (26:01 / Kumanovic L. / EQ), 3:1 RIT Prast J. (27:42 / Hofer A. ,Kostner S. / EQ), 4:1 JES Pance E. (42:36 / Svetina E. ,Polcs R. / EQ), 5:1 JES Ulamec L. (57:21 / Lesnicar T. ,Polcs R. / EQ)

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers – Steinbach Steel Wings Linz 6:4 (2:2,3:1,1:1)
Referees: LEGA, RUETZ, Basso, Hesina.
Goals 0:1 SWL Aigner R. (04:37 / Bucenieks K. ,Pirklbauer P. / EQ), 1:1 HCU Markkula M. (07:20 / Kaufmann M. ,Nyman L. / PP), 1:2 SWL Kitt G. (17:42 / unassisted / SH), 2:2 HCU Nyman L. (19:58 / Wieser F. ,Markkula M. / EQ), 3:2 HCU Curti A. (23:47 / Markkula M. ,Zerbetto R. / EQ), 4:2 HCU DeNardin E. (26:09 / Haarala S. ,Markkula M. / EQ), 5:2 HCU Graf M. (37:09 / Kokoska F. ,Curti A. / EQ), 5:3 SWL Wilding S. (39:11 / Bucenieks K. ,Pirklbauer P. / EQ), 6:3 HCU Kokoska F. (43:20 / Brighenti T. / EQ), 6:4 SWL Kitt G. (51:17 / Mosaad B. ,Rappold K. / PP)

EK Die Zeller Eisbären – EC Bregenzerwald 7:6 OT (1:1,2:4,3:1,1:0)
Referees: KAINBERGER, OREL, Telesklav, Wimmler.
Goals 1:0 EKZ Hämäläinen A. (12:49 / Rattensberger D. / EQ), 1:1 ECB Lehtonen W. (19:24 / Hyyppä P. ,Nyqvist J. / EQ), 1:2 ECB Tröthan R. (21:48 / unassisted / EQ), 1:3 ECB Lipsbergs R. (23:16 / Nyqvist J. ,Hyyppä P. / EQ), 1:4 ECB Lehtonen W. (27:13 / Nyqvist J. ,Tschofen M. / PP), 2:4 EKZ Putnik P. (29:08 / Widen F. ,Rattensberger D. / EQ), 3:4 EKZ Neubauer H. (29:45 / Putnik P. ,Berger H. / EQ), 3:5 ECB Lipsbergs R. (34:16 / Lehtonen W. ,Beck F. / SH), 4:5 EKZ Wilenius T. (41:21 / Hämäläinen A. ,Widen F. / PP), 4:6 ECB Lipsbergs R. (44:29 / Tschofen M. ,Lehtonen W. / PP), 5:6 EKZ Berger H. (46:44 / Ban D. ,Putnik P. / EQ), 6:6 EKZ Ban D. (56:27 / Putnik P. ,Widen F. / EQ), 7:6 EKZ Wilenius T. (64:32 / Widen F. ,Ban D. / EQ)

EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 5:3 (0:2,1:0,4:1)
Referees: BAJT, WUNTSCHEK, Puff, Wucherer.
Goals 0:1 WSV Zecchetto A. (03:19 / De Lorenzo Meo L. ,Niccolai A. / EQ), 0:2 WSV Gander M. (18:02 / De Lorenzo Meo L. ,Hackhofer F. / PP), 1:2 KEC Bolterle P. (33:10 / Kuronen J. ,Lahnaviik R. / PP), 1:3 WSV Mizzi J. (41:01 / Giftopoulos R. ,Hackhofer F. / EQ), 2:3 KEC Lahnaviik R. (45:42 / Kreuter D. ,Niemelä J. / PP), 3:3 KEC Kuronen J. (48:19 / Lahnaviik R. ,Niemelä J. / PP), 4:3 KEC Kuronen J. (54:56 / Niemelä J. ,Bolterle P. / PP), 5:3 KEC Hochfilzer H. (59:49 / unassisted / EQ)

S.G. Cortina Hafro – SHC Fassa Falcons 5:0 (1:0,3:0,1:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, GIACOMOZZI, Cristeli, De Zordo.
Goals 1:0 SGC Lacedelli R. (08:06 / unassisted / EQ), 2:0 SGC Saha M. (24:29 / DI TOMASO G. ,Cuglietta D. / EQ), 3:0 SGC ALVERA' T. (37:01 / Traversa T. / EQ), 4:0 SGC DI TOMASO G. (37:47 / Cuglietta D. ,Zardini Lacedelli N. / EQ), 5:0 SGC Saha M. (51:04 / Lacedelli R. ,Cuglietta D. / PP)