Sisak beats Zell am See by double digits | First defeat of the season for Kitzbühel

League newcomer KHL Sisak set the next exclamation mark. The Croatians celebrated their second win in the third game of the season. In front of 1234 fans, Sisak defeated EK Die Zeller Eisbären 10:2 on Saturday and moved up to fifth place in the table. For Zell am See, on the other hand, it was their third defeat in their fifth game of the season. With five points, the “Polar Bears” are only in tenth place. The team from Pinzgau suffered all of their defeats away from home. In Sisak, Salzburg were 0:2 down after the first period, after which the Croatian team's offense really got going. Although the visitors reduced the deficit to 1:2 in the 22nd minute, the home side scored four times in the second period. The EKZ also scored its second goal in the middle period. Sisak added four goals in the final period, three of them while shorthanded.

First defeat of the season for league leader Kitzbühel
Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel suffered their first defeat in their fifth game of the season. The Tyroleans, who had never conceded more than two goals before, lost 2:4 at HK RST Pellet Celje. The Slovenians improved from the bottom of the table to eleventh place with their first win of the season. The home side took a 2:0 lead in the first period with two powerplay goals. The first goal by Jure Sotlar was even scored in a double powerplay situation. It was the forward's first of two goals on the evening. The 31-year-old even increased the lead to 3:0 in the 24th minute. Kitzbühel were able to reduce the deficit to 1:3 at the start of the final period, but they were unable to score the final goal. Celje finally made it 4:1 with an empty-net goal 22 seconds before the end, and the KEC scored just eleven seconds later to make it 2:4.

Ritten wins derby against Val Gardena
In the South Tyrolean derby between the Rittner Buam SkyAlps and HC Gherdeina valgardena.it, the home side from Ritten won 3:1. It took until the 34th minute before the “Buam” took the lead through Alan Lobis. The visitors equalized right at the start of the final period, but Robert Öhler (46.) and Ethan Szypula (60./EN) finally secured the victory for Ritten. It was RIT's fourth success in a row against Val Gardena. The defending champions are in fourth place in the table with nine points, while Val Gardena has three points and is twelfth in the table.

Successes for Jesenice and Salzburg
SIJ Acroni Jesenice's 3:0 away win at the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan was the Slovenians' first win of the season in regulation. The 2023 AHL champions had previously won all three games after overtime or shootout. Sterzing, on the other hand, suffered its third defeat in a row. The South Tyroleans are ninth in the table with five points, while Jesenice are third with nine points. In Sterzing, Luc Slivnik put the visitors ahead in the 10th minute. JES scored the remaining two goals in the 25th and 57th minutes. Zan Us in the Slovenian goal saved all 20 shots and celebrated his first shutout of the season.

The Red Bull Hockey Juniors narrowly defeated HC Meran/Pircher 4:3. The Juniors still had a comfortable 3:0 lead until eleven and a half minutes before the end of the game. The home side scored two of the three goals while shorthanded. The visitors then got back into the game with three goals within three minutes. However, it was finally Vadim Schreiner who scored the 4:3 game-winner 65 seconds before the end of the third period. It was the center's second goal of the evening. With twelve points, the Juniors are in second place in the table, with the same number of points as leader Kitzbühel. Meran has seven points and is seventh in the table.

Alps Hockey League:
Saturday, 05.10.2024:
Rittner Buam SkyAlps – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 3:1 (0:0, 1:0, 2:1)
Referees: BENVEGNU, GIACOMOZZI, Abeltino, Fecchio. | Spectators: 793
Goals RIT: 1:0 Lobis A. (34.), 2:1 Öhler R. (46.), 3:1 Szypula E. (60./EN)
Goal GHE: 1:1 Di Cicco J. (42.)

Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan – SIJ Acroni Jesenice 0:3 (0:1, 0:1, 0:1)
Referees: LAZZERI, MOSCHEN, Grisenti, Rivis. | Spectators: 398
Goals JES: 0:1 Slivnik L. (10.), 0:2 Selan M. (25./PP1), 0:3 Valtola O. (57.)

HK RST Pellet Celje – Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 4:2 (2:0, 1:0, 1:2)
Referees: LEBEN, WIDMANN, Legat, Miklic. | Spectators: 200
Goals HKC: 1:0 Sotlar J. (11./PP1), 2:0 Kumanovic L. (12./PP1), 3:0 Sotlar J. (24.), 4:1 Tsarkovskyi D. (60./EN)
Goals KEC: 3:1 Wieltschnig P. (44.), 4:2 Lanzinger F. (60.)

KHL Sisak – EK Die Zeller Eisbären 10:2 (2:0, 4:2, 4:0)
Referees: BAJT, LESNIAK, Arlic, Markizeti. | Spectators: 1234
Goals SIS: 1:0 Idzan B. (9./PP1), 2:0 Briere C. (18.), 3:1 Dobric P. (24.), 4:1 Briere C. (26.), 5:1 Bronte T. (29.), 6:2 Idzan B. (38./PP1), 7:2 Bronte T. (43./SH1), 8:2 Dostalek V. (45./SH1), 9:2 Idzan B. (49./PP1), 10:2 Dostalek V. (53./SH1)
Goals EKZ: 2:1 McLeod M. (22./PP1), 5:2 Putnik P. (36.)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – HC Meran/o Pircher 4:3 (0:0, 2:0, 2:3)
Referees: BROCK, RUETZ, Weiss, Wendner. | Spectators: 113
Goals RBJ: 1:0 Schreiner V. (26./SH1), 2:0 Wurzer M. (35.), 3:0 Vinzens P. (49./SH1), 4:3 Schreiner V. (59.)
Goals HCM: 3:1 Pietroniro M. (52./PP1), 3:2 Madsen P. (55.), 3:3 Pietroniro M. (55.)