Leaders extend their advantages

Master Round
Migross Supermecati Asiago remains perfect in the Master Round. With the third win in the third game of the intermediate round, the Yellow-Red extended their lead in the standings. After away wins over Lustenau and Jesenice, the leader added a 4-2 home win over Cortina on Thursday. The visitors took the lead on Thursday before Asiago turned the game around in the first period. Cortina thus remains pointless in the Master Round.

Jesenice is the first chaser of Asiago after Thursday's round. The Slovenians prevailed in a thrilling game against the Rittner Buam with 3:2, leaving the latter behind in the standings. The scoring was opened by Jesenice's "perennial player" Eeto Elo, who scored at least once in all of his last five games. A brace from the Rittner Buam in the middle period put the visitors ahead in the meantime. But Jesenice added to the lead and turned the match around in the final period. With the second win in the third game of the intermediate round, Jesenice pushed the Rittner Buam to third place in the standings.

EHC Lustenau recorded its second win in the intermediate round and took a big step towards direct quarter-final qualification. In a direct duel with one of the two rivals for it, the Vorarlberg team earned a 3:2 shootout victory over HC Fassa Falcons, who captured their first point in the Master Round. The hosts from Fassa also took the lead quickly, but Lustenau's answer followed promptly. In the second period, too, the Falcons initially took the lead. Lustenau, however, fought their way into overtime and subsequently into the penalty shootout, where Kevin Puschnik ensured the decision.

Qualification Round A
Red Bull Hockey Juniors, who started the intermediate round from pole position, were able to rebuild their lead. Although the Salzburgers recently suffered a 0:1 shootout defeat against Kitzbühel, they celebrated a 7:3 victory over EC Bregenzerwald today (Thursday). For the Vorarlberg team this was, after the clear victory over Kitzbühel, the first win in the intermediate round. In the first section, it initially looked good for the ECB also on Thursday - after a good eleven minutes, this led with 2:1. A brace of Tommy Purdeller, however, brought the turn in the game and finally the 7:3 victory. Despite the defeat, the Vorarlbergers remain the first chaser of Salzburg in the Qualification Round A.

In the second game of Group A, EC Stadtwerke Kitzbühel celebrated a 4:3 overtime victory over the KAC-Future Team. While the Klagenfurter still have to wait for their first success in the intermediate round, it is already the second win in the third game for the Eagles. Kitzbühel took the lead in the first period still shorthanded. Until 3:3 in the 59th minute, the Klagenfurter equalized after every lead of the Adler. In the overtime Raivo Freidenfelds finally provided the decision.

Qualification Round B
The HC Gherdeina Valgardena.it celebrated already the second shutout in the third game of the Qualification Round B. Colin Furlong seems to be insurmountable at the moment. For more than 165 minutes now, the goalkeeper has not had to reach behind him. The own offense functions thereby however quite well. Against the EK Zell Eisbären, the team scored a goal in every period and finally won 3:0. Zell remains without points for the first time in the third game of the intermediate round.

The Steel Wings Linz recorded their second win in the third game of the intermediate round on Thursday. After a clear shutout loss against HC Gherdeina, the Upper Austrians prevailed 4-2 over the Vienna Capitals Silver. The hosts initially took the early lead and were able to hold it until the 31st minute. But then the Upper Austrians turned up the heat and made it 3:1 within five minutes. The Caps managed to tie it up, but the Steel Wings finally prevailed 4:2.

Bemer VEU Feldkirch remains undefeated in Qualification Round B and stays above the red line. For the second time, however, the 60 minutes were not enough to bring in the victory. Against HC Meran/o, who until this game had not yet managed to earn an additional point in the Intermediate Round, the Vorarlberg team still trailed 0:1. In the supposed last period, however, Jesper Eriksson shot his team into overtime. After 43 seconds, Dylan Stanley provided the decision.

Master Round:
HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice - Rittner Buam 3:2 (1:0,0:2,2:0)
Referees: DURCHNER, REZEK, Arlic, Pötscher
Goals JES: 1:0 JES Elo E. (07:36 / Viikila J. ,Pance E. / EQ), 2:2 JES Rajsar P. (42:45 / unassisted / EQ), 3:2 JES Ulamec L. (47:52 / Rajsar P. / EQ)
Goals RIT: 1:1 RIT Spinell M. (25:09 / Lutz A. ,Kostner S. / PP), 1:2 RIT Lutz A. (36:51 / Spinell M. ,Quinz S. / EQ)

SHC Fassa Falcons - EHC Lustenau 2:3 S.O. (1:1,1:1,0:0)
Referees: PINIE, STEFENELLI, Bedana, Cristeli
Goals SHC: 1:0 FAS Iori D. (01:36 / Tedesco D. ,Lindgren E. / PP), 2:1 FAS Deluca A. (29:05 / Spimpolo G. ,Ploner A. / EQ)
Goals EHC: 1:1 EHC Koczera P. (02:43 / König D. ,Giftopoulos R. / EQ), 2:2 EHC Haberl L. (34:43 / Wallenta E. ,Puschnik K. / EQ), 2:3 EHC Puschnik K. (65:00 / GWS)

Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey - S.G. Cortina Hafro 4:2 (3:1,1:0,0:1)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, SORAPERRA, Mantovani, Piras
Goals ASH: 1:1 ASH Giliati S. (09:13 / Marchetti M. ,Mantenuto D. / EQ), 2:1 ASH Iacobellis S. (12:46 / Salinitri A. ,Magnabosco J. / EQ), 3:1 ASH Marchetti M. (13:49 / Giliati S. ,Casetti L. / EQ), 4:1 ASH Tessari A. (33:47 / Zampieri S. ,Tessari M. / EQ)
Goals SGC: 0:1 SGC Lacedelli R. (06:55 / Finucci C. ,Vallazza R. / EQ), 4:2 SGC Zanatta M. (54:18 / Johansson M. ,Zanatta L. / EQ)

Qualification Round A:
EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - EC-KAC Future Team 4:3 O.T. (1:1,2:1,0:1)
Referees: RUETZ, WALLNER, Huber, Rinker
Goals KEC: 1:0 KEC Schröder F. (13:07 / Schröder W. / SH), 2:1 KEC Mintautiskis M. (23:08 / Feix C. ,Camondo M. / EQ), 3:2 KEC Eder M. (28:14 / Kittinger P. ,Eder F. / EQ), 4:3 KEC Freidenfelds R. (62:29 / Kittinger P. / EQ)
Goals KFT: 1:1 KFT Witting M. (18:44 / van Ee F. / EQ), 2:2 KFT Hammerle V. (27:41 / Preiml M. / EQ), 3:3 KFT Hammerle V. (58:52 / Preiml M. ,Sablattnig T. / EQ)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors - EC Bregenzerwald 7:3 (2:2,3:1,2:0)
Referees: PAHOR, PODLESNIK, Eisl, Wimmler
Goals RBJ: 1:0 RBJ Krening P. (02:03 / Hörl L. ,Mastic M. / EQ), 2:2 RBJ Purdeller T. (13:14 / Eham J. ,Necesany L. / EQ), 3:2 RBJ Purdeller T. (20:45 / Lehmus J. ,Auer L. / EQ), 4:2 RBJ Lehmus J. (23:44 / Purdeller T. ,Auer L. / EQ), 5:2 RBJ Thaler L. (24:12 / Wimmer P. ,Maier O. / EQ), 6:3 RBJ Thaler L. (41:04 / Maier O. ,Heigl N. / EQ), 7:3 RBJ Necesany L. (52:19 / Maier O. ,Heigl N. / SH)
Goals ECB: 1:1 ECB Lehtonen W. (07:36 / Auer J. ,Lipsbergs R. / EQ), 1:2 ECB Schlögl R. (11:12 / Nyqvist J. ,Lehtonen W. / PP), 5:3 ECB Pilgram G. (38:03 / Metzler J. ,Nyqvist J. / EQ)

Qualification Round B:
BEMER VEU Feldkirch - HC Meran/o Pircher 2:1 O.T. (0:0,0:1,1:0)
Referees: HOLZER, LEGA, Bassani, Spiegel
Goals VEU: 1:1 VEU Eriksson J. (41:30 / Sticha T. ,Stückler P. / EQ), 2:1 VEU Stanley D. (60:43 / Gehringer N. / EQ)
Goals HCM: 0:1 HCM Tomasini P. (32:42 / Hofer R. ,Ansoldi L. / EQ)

Vienna Capitals Silver - Steel Wings Linz 2:4 (1:0,1:3,0:1)
Referees: BRUNNER, WUNTSCHEK, Bergant, Voican
Goals VCS: 1:0 VCS Fichtinger R. (03:46 / Mantsch S. ,Machan L. / EQ), 2:3 VCS Moser A. (38:24 / Fichtinger R. ,Maxa A. / EQ)
Goals SWL: 1:1 SWL Stuart B. (31:12 / Farren K. ,Brikmanis A. / EQ), 1:2 SWL Ekelund U. (35:47 / Lahtinen N. ,Mayrhofer M. / EQ), 1:3 SWL Stuart B. (36:05 / Farren K. ,Liesch L. / EQ), 2:4 SWL Mayrhofer M. (59:40 / Söllinger P. ,Liesch L. / EQ)

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - EK Die Zeller Eisbären 3:0 (1:0,1:0,1:0)
Referees: BENVEGNU, MOSCHEN, Da Pian, De Zordo
Goals GHE: 1:0 GHE Korhonen V. (19:58 / Selan M. ,Galassiti D. / PP), 2:0 GHE Sullmann Pilser M. (26:57 / Messner L. ,Moroder T. / EQ), 3:0 GHE Selan M. (56:36 / MC GOWAN B. ,Willeit C. / 5:3 PP)