Important wins for Salzburg and Villach

For the second time within nine days the EC Red Bull Salzburg and the HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie faced each other. As already in Innsbruck, the Red Bulls clearly kept the upper hand also in front of their home crowd. While they prevailed 5:2 on December 2nd, a 5:1 success followed on Sunday. However, the "Sharks" had the better start, taking the lead after just 218 seconds. Subsequently, Salzburg got better and better into the game and could equalize four minutes before the end of the first period. In the middle period, defender Chay Genoway scored twice. For the Canadian it was the first brace in the Red Bulls dress. In the final period, Innsbruck tried everything and had numerous chances, but Nicolai Meyer scored the final decision with just two minutes left. For the Dane it was the second goal of the evening. Florian Baltram made the final score just a few seconds later. For the best offense in the league from Innsbruck it was the first time since October 18th that they scored only one goal. Despite all this, HCI remains at the top of the table, but is only two points ahead of the Red Bulls, who moved up to second place.



Fourth win in a row for Villach
Again only one point behind, the HCB Südtirol Alperia and the EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV follow in third and fourth place. On Sunday, the "Eagles" prevailed away from home with 3:1. The game in Bolzano started an hour late because the VSV bus was stuck in traffic. For Villach it was already the fourth win in a row. For the "Foxes", on the other hand, it was only the second defeat in the twelfth home game. There was little action on the ice in the first two periods. The goals were all scored in the last thirteen minutes of the game. First the VSV took the lead through a goal by Blaz Tomazevic, before Mike Halmo equalized just a short time later. However, John Hughes and Anthony Luciani were able to decide the match in favor of the Carinthians. In the second duel of the season it was the second win for Villach.

Important win for the Black Wings
The spusu Vienna Capitals still can't get back on track, conceded their fourth defeat in a row at the Steinbach Black Wings Linz and are only in eighth place in the table. The gap to the direct playoff qualification is already nine points. They were defeated by the Black Wings with 2:5. They still managed to win the first duel of the season in Linz with 5:2. The Black Wings currently fifth in the table, are now five points ahead of the seventh place thanks to the important victory. In the eastern derby, the Upper Austrians were the better team in all three periods, went into the first break with a 2:1 lead, and after 40 minutes it was 3:1. The Capitals were able to cut the lead to 2:3 just 15 minutes before the end of the game, but only five minutes later Michael Haga, in his second game after a long injury layoff, restored the two-goal advantage. In the end, seven different players got on the scoresheet.

Pioneers surprise KAC
The BEMER Pioneers Vorarlbeg, bottom of the table, recorded a surprising 3:1 away win at the EC-KAC. The team from Feldkirch was already leading 3:0 after 19 minutes. No goals were scored in the second period. Only eight minutes before the end of the game Paul Postma scored for the KAC. Thus Pioneers goalkeeper David Madlener just missed a shutout. The 30-year-old guarded the goal of the KAC between 2016 and 2021. In the second duel of the season, it was the second win for the Pioneers. On September 18th, they prevailed 2:1 at home. In the standings, their gap to the pre-playoff places is now eleven points. The KAC, seventh in the table, is already five points behind sixth place and thus a fixed playoff spot.

The important sixth place is currently held by Hydro Fehérvár AV19. Last year's finalist won 2:0 at home against the HC Pustertal Wölfe on Sunday. After a goalless first period, Alex Petan scored in the middle period to make it 1:0. The Italian also set up the final score just before the end via an empty-net goal. For AVS goalkeeper Dominik Horvath it was the second shutout in his seventh game of the season. Overall, it was the third shutout in a row for the Hungarian. The last goal they conceded was 219 minutes and 28 seconds ago. Pustertal, which remained without a goal for only the third time this season, still is in eleventh place in the standings. The gap to tenth place is only one point. For the South Tyroleans, however, it was already the eighth defeat from the past ten games.



WIN2DAY ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE:
EC-KAC - BEMER PIONEERS VORARLBERG 1:3 (0:3, 0:0, 0:1)
REFEREES: STERNAT, TRILAR, PUFF, ZGONC | Spectators: 3097
Goal KAC: 1:3 Postma P. (53.)
Goals PIV: 0:1 Metzler J. (5.), 0:2 Eriksson H. (8.), 0:3 Viveiros L. (19.)

EC RED BULL SALZBURG - HC TIWAG INNSBRUCK - DIE HAIE 5:1 (1:1, 2:0, 2:0)
REFEREES: BERNEKER, ZRNIC, BÄRNTHALER, MARTIN | Spectators: 2798
Goals RBS: 1:1 Meyer N. (17.), 2:1 Genoway C. (28./PP1), 3:1 Genoway C. (38.), 4:1 Meyer N. (59./EN), 5:1 Baltram F. (59.)
Goal HCI: 0:1 Coulter T. (4.)

HYDRO FEHERVAR AV 19 - HC PUSTERTAL WÖLFE 2:0 (0:0, 1:0, 1:0)
REFEREES: FICHTNER, RENCZ, GATOL-SCHAFRANEK, VACZI | Spectators: 2132
Goals AVS: 1:0 Petan A. (38./PP1), 2:0 Petan A. (60./EN)

STEINBACH BLACK WINGS LINZ - SPUSU VIENNA CAPITALS 5:2 (2:1, 1:0, 2:1)
REFEREES: HLAVATY, SIEGEL, NOTHEGGER, SEEWALD | Spectators: 3300
Goals BWL: 1:0 Roe L. (8.), 2:0 Schumnig M. (17.), 3:1 Gaffal S. (37.), 4:2 Haga M. (51.), 5:2 Mitsch J. (59./EN)
Goals VIC: 2:1 Bradley M. (17.), 3:2 Krys C. (46./PP1)

HCB SÜDTIROL ALPERIA - EC IDM WÄRMEPUMPEN VSV 1:3 (0:0, 0:0, 1:3)
REFEREES: M. NIKOLIC, K. NIKOLIC, EISL, PARDATSCHER | Spectators: 2890
Goals HCB: 1:1 Halmo M. (52.)
Goals VSV: 0:1 Tomazevic B. (48.), 1:2 Hughes J. (53.), 1:3 Luciani A. (58.)