Rittner Buam are back on top

For the Red Bull Hockey Juniors it was the first game after a two weeks break in Alps Hockey League. In the meantime the farm team of Salzburg prepared in Finnland. The home team started with high intensity and controlled the first period. But couldn’t score in the first period. In the beginning of the second period Cortina created good chances in powerplay, but Daniel Fießinger proofed his reactions. After that it was Victor Östling who brought the lead for Salzburg in the 41st minute. Just moments before the end of the second period the guests scored the equalizer. In the third period Christof Wappis recaptured the lead in powerplay with an onetimer. But Cortina still pushed for the next goal. In the 55th minute Ciccarrello succeeded with the equalizer, so the game went in overtime. Both teams couldn’t score in the additional five minutes. In penalty shoot-out Valentin Koop kept his nerves and scored the deciding goal.

Both teams started with high energy into the first period, with clear advantage for the home team. In the 10th minute Gatis Sprukts opened the scoring, before Henrik Eriksson increased the lead for Kitzbühel to 2:0. In the second period Zell increased intensity, but it was again Kitzbühel who scored. David Lidström scored for the 3:0 before the guests started their  catch-up race. In the 28th minute Tommi Laine succeeded with the first goal for his team after perfect preparation work of the Dinhopel brothers. Only moments later the captain Franz Wilfan narrowed the gap to 2:3. In the final period Kitzbühel was again the more efficient team. Gatis Sprukts increased to 4:2, before Henrik Hochfilzer created the result of 5:2.

 

After just 29 seconds of play, it was Eric Johansson's goal: Wolves could handle the start of the game much better. After the first goal, Brunico played one of the best games of the season, but Asiago was no less as they tried to get to the tie. But this was one of those evenings where Brunico wanted to do well. In the middle there was a doubling with a shot from the distance of Danny Elliscasis. Asiago put a lot of pressure on the Bruneck side but the first half ended well in favor of the Wolves. During the 2th period, Asiago tried to back but Thomas Tragust was ready to save. The Val Pusteria continued to score. At the end of a powerplay, Brunico made 3: 0 at even strength with Armin Hofer's wrist shot. But Asiago didn’t demoralize as they plaed his game. After many efforts, Matteo Tessari concluded in the net with a full-speed action. During the third time the hosts defended their net with a lot of hard work defensive. In the last period, however, the Wolves freezed the match as they close each defensive space to the opponents. Even a couple of penalties din’t allow the Asiago to correct the match and also in the last minut the exit of Frederic Cloutier didn’t turn the result. Val Pusteria stopped the race of the Asiago after six consecutive wins. This was an important victory for the Val Pusteria. Now the Wolves will recover for a better place in the standings. 

 

Although not playing a good first period, the Neumarkt managed to contain the Austrian opponents. After nine defeats each puck was very heavy for the home team. The first Neumarkt's goal was an invention by Michael Sullmann that punched the opponent's defense into numerical inferiority as he crossed the opposing goalkeeper with a touch of backend. The ECB, however, tied in the final second of the first period in powerplay with Marcel Wolf. Also in the middle the story of the game was the same. Bregenzerwald was more active but didn’t score but Neumarkt took advantage of Ondrej Nedved in double powerplay. This time the advantage of the host remained until the second whistle. During the third period, Egna certainly played better than the opponents but couldn’t finish the game. In the last two minutes, however, Egna has to play in double inferiority and when missing 33 seconds to the end of the third period there was the second net of Marcel Wolf for the tie. The same austrian team continued to play in powerplay in the overtime but didn’t concretize. When Dominic Haberl came into penalty bench, the Neumarkt made the winning game goal with Joseph Harcharik. The Wild Goose, therefore, celebrated their first win in the 2th season of the Alps Hockey League. 

The host coach, Riku Lehtonen, had to give up not only the injured Max Ploner and Andreas Alber but also  Dan Tudin and Markus Spinell, but he was able to deploy for the first time Brad Cole. The 30-year-old Canadian defender returned after nine months in Klobstein. Ritten immediately started attacking, but they wasted some good opportunities. Shortly before the first break the "Buam" scored the first goal. After a foul of Martin Castlunger on Victor Ahlström, Renon is given a penalty shot. The Swedish forward didn’t fail as he overcame the goalkeeper Gianni Scola goalkeeper for 1: 0. At 29th Julian Kostner served a perfect assist for Alex Frei: the forward scored 2:0. The Buam bomber was already the 9th goal of the season. Soon after, Victor Ahlström puthis signature back after Andreas Lutz's assist for 3: 0. A double that closed the match. In the third period the Fassa collapsed, while Renon hit another two times. First Tommaso Traversa transformed Frei's assistp, then Victor Ahlström crowned his night with his hat trick (5:0). Ten minutes from the final whistle, Nik Trottner scored the only goal for Fassa (5: 1 final). Renon celebrated his 9th success in AHL as they returned to the top of the standings.

 

Goals RBJ: Östling (31. Jakubitzka – Wappis), Wappis (43./pp1 Östling - Witting ), , Kopp (65., dec. Penalty)

Goals SGC: Barnabo (39. Iori - Rizzo), Ciccarrello (55. De Biasio - Caletti)

 

Goal KEC: Sprukts (10. Protcenko – Ebner, 47. Sislannikovs - Lenes) Eriksson (16./pp1 Lidström – Hochfilzer) Lidström (24./pp1 – Eriksson), Hochfilzer (56. Gran – Lidström)

Goals EKZ: Laine (28., Dinhopel T.- Dinhopel F.), Wilfan (33. – TapioHC Pustertal „Wölfe“ – Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 3:1

 

Referees: LEGA, VIRTA, Basso, Piras.

Goals Neumarkt: 1:0 M.Sullmann (8.); 2:1 Nedved (34./PP2/Willeit-Brabenec); 3:2 Harcharik (63./PP1/Willeit-Brebanec); 

Goals Bregenzerwald: 1:1 M.Wolf (19./PP1/Kauppila-C.Ban); 2:2 M.Wolf (59./PP2/C.Ban-Kauppila)

 

Referees: LAZZERI, MOSCHEN, DeZordo, Egger.

Goals HC Pustertal: 1:0 Johansson (1./Helfer); 2:0 Elliscasis (9./Pance-Johansson); 3:0 Hofer (25./Oberrauch-Hofer); 

Goals Asiago: 3:1 M.Tessari (36./Rosa-Conci; 

Referees: KAMSEK, PIANEZZE, Markizeti, Stefenelli.

Goals Rittner Buam: 1:0 V.Ahlström (18./PS); 2:0 Frei (29./J.Kostner); 3:0 V.Ahlström (35./Lutz-S.Kostner); 4:0 Traversa (45./Frei-T.Spinell); 5:0 V. Ahlström; 

Goal Fassa: 5:1 Trottner (50./Schiavone-Zanet);