Jesenice and Pustertal are qualified for the Playoffs

Besides the HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana, the HC Pustertal Wölfe and HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice are now qualified for the Playoffs too. Both teams met in the top match on Saturday night. The guests from Jesenice prevailed with 2:1 after overtime and thus won also the second duel of the season against the South Tyroleans. Both teams were able to clinch their Playoff ticket, as both the Red Bull Hockey Juniors and S.G. Cortina Hafro lost their games.



Pustertal got the better start in the game. After a goalless first period, Tommasso Traversa (34.) scored the 1:0 for the home side, who had more of the game at this second point. The guests from Slovenia, who passed the "Wolves" in the table and are now second, managed to equalize in the 46th minute through Jaka Sodja. Shortly before the end of the game, the guests had a few more chances, but the decision had to be made in extra time. Saso Rajsar scored the game-winning goal after just 24 seconds in this.



Feldkirch with important win against Cortina
The VEU Feldkirch earned an important home win against S.G. Cortina Hafro in the fight for the Pre-Playoffs. After ten defeats from the last twelve games, the Vorarlberg side managed a 2:1 home win against the sixth-placed team in the table. For Cortina it was the first defeat after five wins in a row. The game started as expected. The guests started better and took the lead in the fourth minute of the game through Chad Pietroniro. Still in the first period the VEU managed to equalize through Smail Samardzic (16.). The decisive goal of the game was scored in the 32nd minute. Martin Mairitsch scored after an assist of Linus Lundström. Subsequently, Cortina clearly set the tone, but failed to equalize. Due to the defeat, SGC has no chance to reach the Playoffs after the Regular Season and will play the Pre-Playoffs. This is probably the path Feldkirch will take as well. The win on Saturday night means they are already eight points ahead of thirteenth place. Four games are still to go.

Bregenzerwald with important win at Fassa
Just like the VEU Feldkirch, the EC Bregenzerwald also managed an important victory in the fight for the Pre-Playoffs. Opponent SHC Fassa Falcons, on the other hand, remains thirteenth in the standings and must continue to fear for the Pre-Playoff qualification. Already in the second minute of the game, the guests from Vorarlberg took a 1:0 lead. For the ECB it was the first goal after previously 124 scoreless minutes of play. This narrow 1:0 advantage lasted until the 29th minute of play before Fassa managed to equalize. The decision in Bregenzerwald's 3:1 away win came in the final period when first Adem Kandemir (42.) and later Julian Metzler (60./EN) scored. ECB is now eight points ahead of the "Falcons". Both teams have four games left to play. Bregenzerwald is already back in action tomorrow, Sunday, at 18:30. At Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey, however, the tenth in the table is only the outsider.

Val Gardena with two late goals to win at the Steel Wings
The HC Gherdeina valgardena.it continued its six-game winning streak at the Steel Wings Linz. The ninth-placed team in the table won against the bottom of the table from Linz with 3:1. Until one and a half minutes before the end of the game, the score was still 1:1, but two late goals by Joonas Niemelä (59./PP1) and Patrick Tomasini (60.) brought the South Tyroleans much closer to the Pre-Playoffs. The Finn Niemelä also scored the first goal of the game (3./PP1). The intermediate equalizer for the Steel Wings was scored by Curtis Douglas (55). The Canadian sweetened his 21st birthday with his fifth goal of the season. In the fourth duel between the two teams, it was the fourth win for Gherdeina.

Vallerand double in narrow away win for Ljubljana
Marc-Olivier Vallerand scored his first brace in his third game for league leaders HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana to lead the Slovenians to a 2:1 away win at the Red Bull Hockey Juniors. The 31-year-old Canadian scored once each in the first (13.) and second period (30./PP1). On the side of the Young Bulls, Nico Feldner was successful (54). For the AHL champion of 2019 it was already the ninth win in a row, RBJ conceded the second defeat en suite, which is why the early Playoff qualification of Salzburg is moving further and further away. The gap to fourth-placed Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey is already seven points. The fifth-placed team in the table can still take a maximum of twelve points. After a clear 5:2 away win of the Young Bulls in the first duel this season, the "Dragons" could now take revenge. In the H2H, HKO made the 7:5.

Ritten wins goal festival at Lustenau
The Ritten Buam won a goal festival at the EHC Lustenau with 8:5. For the EHC it was the second defeat in a row. In the standings, the Vorarlberg team remains in seventh place (46 points), while the "Buam" follow in eighth place with 43 points. While the EHC is already qualified for the Pre-Playoffs, Ritten only needs two points from the last four games to qualify as well. After a starting period in which "only" three goals were scored, things really got going in the second period. Within 16 minutes of play, no less than seven goals were scored. The guests were clearly superior in this phase and scored five times. In the final period, as in the first, three goals were scored. Player of the game on the side of the winning team was Stefan Quinz with a hat trick.

Asiago with big step towards Top-4
Due to defeats of fifth-place Red Bull Hockey Juniors and sixth-place S.G. Cortina Hafro, Migross Supermercati Asaigo Hockey came the Top-4 closer. As a result of the 3:1 home win over the EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel, Asiago is already seven and eight points ahead of the two pursuers. Kitzbühel, as the 15th best team in the standings, has no chance to reach the Pre-Playoffs, but showed a good performance against a much stronger opponent. In the meantime, the Tyroleans could even equalize to 1:1 (45.). For Asiago, who are already in action again tomorrow, Sunday, at 18:30, it was the second win in a row and the third win from the past five games. In the H2H ASH is leading with 8:2.

Alps Hockey League:
Steel Wings Linz – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 1:3 (0:1, 0:0, 1:2)
Referees: LEHNER, LOICHT, Matthey, Moidl.
Goal SWL: 1:1 Douglas C. (55. Norris D. – Holzinger L.)
Goals GHE: 0:1 Niemelä J. (3./PP1 Willeit C. – Wiklins M.), 1:2 Niemelä J. (59./PP1 Wilkins M. – McGowan B.), 1:3 Tomasini P. (60. Willeit C. – Brugnoli J.)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana 1:2 (0:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Referees: WIDMANN, WUNTSCHEK, Holzer, Pötscher.
Goal RBJ: 1:2 Feldner N. (54./PP1 Thaler L. – Rebernig M.)
Goals HKO: 0:1 Vallerand M. (13. Simsic N. – Cimzar T.), 0:2 Vallerand M. (30./PP1 Ropret A. – Music A.)

SHC Fassa Falcons – EC Bregenzerwald 1:3 (0:1, 1:0, 0:2)
Referees: LAZZERI, STEFENELLI, Bedana, Cristeli.
Goal FAS: 1:1 Iori D. (29. Castlunger M.)
Goals ECB: 0:1 Schlögl R. (2. Maxa A. -Pilgram G.), 1:2 Kandemir A. (42./PP1 Metzler J. – Pöschmann P.), 1:3 Metzler J. (60./EN Ban D. – Posch B.)

EHC Lustenau – Rittner Buam 5:8 (2:1, 2:5, 1:2)
Referees: RUETZ, WALLNER, Kainberger, Wimmler.
Goals EHC: 1:1 D´Alvise C. (9. Wilfan M. – Connelly B.), 2:1 D´Alvise C. (16./SH1 Wilfan M. - Slivnik D.), 3:2 Wallenta E. (25. D´Alvise C. – Wilfan M.), 4:5 Grabher Meier M. (36. D´Alvise C. – Ozolins A.), 5:6 D´Alvise C. (48. Wilfan M. – Grabher Meier M.)
Goals RIT: 0:1 Sharp M. (2. Quinz S.), 2:2 Sharp M. (25. Spinell M. – Kosnter J.), 3:3 Quinz S. (27. Öhler M. – Sharp M.), 3:4 Kostner J. (28. Kostner S. – Spinell M.), 3:5 Öhler M. (30. Gabri R. – Sharp M.), 4:6 Lutz A. (40./PP1 Kostner S. – Sharp M.), 5:7 Kostner J. (54. Öhler M. – Sharp M.), 5:8 Lutz A. (60./EN)

VEU Feldkich – S.G. Cortina Hafro 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0)
Referees: HOLZER, SCHAUER, Huber, Martin.
Goals VEU: 1:1 Samardzic S. (16. Korecky I.), 2:1 Mairitsch M. (32./PP1 Lundström L. – Puschnik K.)
Goal SGC: 0:1 Pietroniro C. (4.)

HC Pustertal Wölfe – HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice 1:2-OT (0:0, 1:0, 0:1)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, VIRTA, Da Pian, De Zordo.
Goals PUS: 1:0 Traversa T. (34. Oberrauch M. – Leitner M.)
Goals JES: 1:1 Sodja J. (46./PP1 Crnovic A. – Pinelli F.), 1:2 Rajsar S. (61./OT Rajsar P. – Masic B.)

Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey – EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 3:1 (0:0, 1:0, 2:1)
Referees: MOSCHEN, PINIE, Mantovani, Rigoni.
Goals ASH: 1:0 McParland S. (21. Ginnetti C. – Casetti L.), 2:1 Rosa M. (46. McParland S. – Forte F.), 3:1 Mantenuto D. (60. Vankus M. – Tessari M.)
Goal KEC: 1:1 Kreuter D. (45. Gartner R. – Feix C.)

Copyright: HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice