Important win for KAC | Bolzano turns Tyrol derby around

With a strong final period, the EC-KAC picked up a very important 5:3 home win against the spusu Vienna Capitals. The KAC is now seventh in the table, just one point behind sixth-placed Vienna. In the fourth duel of the season, it was the third win in a row for the KAC. For the Capitals, who were leading 3:2 until thirteen minutes before the end, it was the fourth defeat from the past six games. Paul Postma scored in the power play to equalize for the KAC, before Thomas Hundertpfund turned the game around with five and a half minutes remaining. Matt Fraser finally scored an empty-net goal 70 seconds before the end of the game for the final decision. It was the second goal of the evening for the Canadian, who also scored to make it 2:1 in the meantime.



Bolzano is derby winner thanks to a furious final period
Leader HCB Südtirol Alperia is still unstoppable and celebrated already the sixth win in a row. In the Tyrolean derby against third-placed HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie, the South Tyroleans had to tremble for a long time, because until 18 minutes before the end of the game, the home side from Innsbruck was still leading 3:1, before Bolzano was successful five more times and in the end claimed a commanding victory. In the fourth duel of the season it was the fourth win for HCB, in which Luca Frigo scored two very important goals with the goals to make it 2:3 and 5:3. The 29-year-old also played a decisive role in the win in the South Tyrol derby last Friday with the 2:0 shortly before the end of the game. For the Sharks, it was the fourth defeat from the past five games. However, their lead over the seventh place remains comfortable 20 points.

One place ahead of Innsbruck in the table is the EC Red Bull Salzburg. The Red Bulls had no problems against the bottom of the table, BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg, and won clearly with 5:1. The gap between Bolzano and the Red Bulls is still three points, but with one game less played. In the third victory over the Pioneers in the fourth ICE duel, Ty Loney was once again convincing. The US-American, who made his season debut on January 8th after a long injury layoff, scored one goal and made two assists. Overall, the 30-year-old always scored at least one point in all eight season appearances. It was the fifth straight win for Salzburg, giving them the second-longest active winning streak after Bolzano. The Pioneers have been defeated in four of their last five games and are already twelve points behind the tenth place.

Loss for Karhula at the debut
Antti Karhula had no reason to be happy on his debut for the HK SZ Olimpija. The neo-head coach of the Slovenians conceded a clear 1:4 defeat at the Moser Medical Graz99ers. For Graz it was the first win after four defeats in a row, but already the fourth home win in a row. Olimpija lost for the seventh time en suite. The defeat at the 99ers hurt twice, because the twelfth in the table is now already twelve points behind tenth Graz. The Styrians, who already led 3:0 after 25 minutes, are now four points ahead of eleventh-placed Pustertal and also have the same number of points as ninth-placed Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey.

The Italians conceded a 3:6 defeat at the EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV after the score was still tied 2:2 after 40 minutes. In the final period, however, the VSV added two goals in the first 64 seconds. Again only three minutes later the fourth of the table increased the lead to 5:2. Andrew Desjardins was the only player to score twice. For the 36-year-old Canadian it was the second brace in the jersey of the Eagles. Villach was also able to stop the winning streak of Asiago, who won all of their last four games. The Carinthians, in turn, celebrated the sixth victory from the past seven games. In fourth place, they already have a ten-point lead over seventh-placed KAC. Already on Sunday it comes to the direct duel of the local rivals. PULS 4 will broadcast the Carinthian derby live from 18:00.

Felix Maxa stays at the VSV
Felix Maxa will also be in Villach's squad for Sunday's top match. The contract with the 25-year-old was extended immediately before the game against Asiago by two years, until the end of the 2024/25 season. The Vienna native is currently playing the best season of his career. In total, the forward has already scored 19 points, including 6 goals, in the current season.

WIN2DAY ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE | 27.01.2023:
MOSER MEDICAL GRAZ99ERS – HK SZ OLIMPIJA 4:1 (2:0, 1:0, 1:1)
REFEREES: FICHTNER, TRILAR, BÄRNTHALER, MIKLIC. | Spectators: 1551
Goals G99: 1:0 Bouramman G. (1.), 2:0 Granholm V. (13./PP1), 3:0 Antonitsch S. (25.), 4:0 Altmann M. (45.)
Goal HKO: 4:1 Pance Z. (56./SH1)

EC-KAC – SPUSU VIENNA CAPITALS 5:3 (2:2, 0:1, 3:0)
REFEREES: STERNAT, ZRNIC, JEDLICKA, KONC. | Spectators: 4243
Goals KAC: 1:1 Unterweger C. (3.), 2:1 Fraser M. (13.), 3:3 Postma P. (48./PP1), 4:3 Hundertpfund T. (55.), 5:3 Fraser M. (59.)
Goals VIC: 0:1 Bauer S. (3.), 2:2 Kainz L. (18.), 2:3 Zimmer M. (35.)

EC RED BULL SALZBURG – BEMER PIONEERS VORARLBERG 5:1 (2:1, 1:0, 2:0)
REFEREES: HLAVATY, HRONSKY, NOTHEGGER, WIMMLER. | Spectators: 2009
Goals RBS: 1:0 Heigl N. (15.), 2:0 Nissner B. (17.), 3:1 Loney T. (27.), 4:1 Huber M. (46.), 5:1 Raffl T. (54.)
Goals PIV: 2:1 Jarusek R. (20.)

EC IDM WÄRMEPUMPEN VSV – MIGROSS SUPERMERCATI ASIAGO HOCKEY 6:3 (1:1, 1:1, 4:1)
REFEREES: NAGY, SIEGEL, GATOL-SCHAFRANEK, MUZSIK. | Spectators: 2844
Goals VSV: 1:1 Lindner P. (4.), 2:1 Desjardins A. (35.), 3:2 Hughes J. (41.), 4:2 Desjardins A. (42.), 5:2 Collins C. (45.), 6:3 Sabolic R. (55.)
Goals ASH: 0:1 Castlunger M. (2.), 2:2 Marchetti M. (37./PP1), 5:3 Salinitri A. (49.)

HC TIWAG INNSBRUCK – DIE HAIE – HCB SÜDTIROL ALPERIA 3:6 (2:1, 0:0, 1:5)
REFEREES: BERNEKER, NIKOLIC M., MARTIN, PARDATSCHER. | Spectators: 3200
Goals HCI: 1:1 Feldner N. (4.), 2:1 Leavens D. (16.), 3:1 Lattner J. (43.)
Goals HCB: 0:1 McClure B. (3.), 3:2 Frigo L. (44.), 3:3 Hults M. (48.), 3:4 Gazley D. (52.), 3:5 Frigo L. (53.), 3:6 Thomas C. (53.)