Six away wins and only one home win on Thursday

Cortina takes three points from Zell am See
S.G. Cortina Hafro clearly beat the EK Die Zeller Eisbären 5:2. It was only the second defeat of the season after regular time for EKZ. The Polar Bears are now only two points ahead of first-pursuer Ritten in the table. Cortina, who led 3:0 after the first period, took revenge for their 0:3 home defeat in the first game of the season at the end of September. It was the first win in the Alps Hockey League for the sixth-placed team from Italy after two consecutive defeats. Massimo Carozza made it 1:0 for the visitors after just 34 seconds. It was one of three goals for the 27-year-old, who scored a hat-trick for the first time in Cortina's kit. Alps Hockey League topscorer Tomi Wilenius was responsible for one of Zell am See's two goals. A detailed interview with the Finn can be found here.

Ritten celebrates seventh win in a row
The Rittner Buam SkyAlps are already unbeaten in seven games in a row. Apart from the South Tyroleans, only Jesenice have won seven games in a row so far this season. Ritten beat the SHC Fassa Falcons 5:2 on Thursday to close the gap to leader Zell am See to two points. Apart from Ritten, no other team was able to win its home game on Thursday. The Buam were already 0:2 trailing in the meantime. At the end of the second period, Simon Kostner scored the 1:2 to turn the game around. Julian Kostner equalized just 69 seconds after the restart. Ethan Szypula took the lead for the first time that evening in the 45th minute. The forward also scored an empty-net goal to make it 4:2. Simon Kostner provided the final goal, also scoring a brace. Fassa suffered their first defeat after three wins in a row. The Italians are thirteenth in the table.

Clear defeat for Kitzbühel against Bregenzerwald
The EC Bregenzerwald celebrated a clear 7:3 away victory at the EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel. It was their second win in a row. For the Eagles, however, who were without several players, it was their second defeat in a row. Bregenzerwald only narrowly won the first leg 3:2. Roberts Lipsbergs was the player of the match on Thursday with two goals and two assists. The ECB scored five of their seven goals in the second period. Before the game started, Kitzbühel announced the signing of Slovenian international Matic Podlipnik, who replaced the injured Jimi Kuronen. The Slovenian was last under contract with the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg in the win2day Ice Hockey League and already made his debut for the Eagles on Thursday. The 31-year-old was promptly involved in all three goals, two of them with a primary assist.

Juniors with fourth win in a row
Both the Steel Wings LINZ AG and the Red Bull Hockey Juniors had three wins in a row before the game. The Steel Wings' winning streak came to an end on Thursday, as the Juniors won 3:0 away from home to record their fourth win in a row. The Salzburg team, who have won the last four duels against the Upper Austrians, are in fifth place in the table. In a very evenly-matched game, Paul Vinzens put the Young Bulls ahead in the 19th minute in the power play. Maximilian Wurzer increased the lead to 2:0 in the 47th minute. 64 seconds before the end of the game, David Cernik scored the final goal with an empty-net goal. RBJ goalkeeper Simon Wolf was able to save all 26 shots on goal and celebrated his first shutout. The Steel Wings are in twelfth place in the table.

Away wins for Vipiteno, Merano and Gherdeina
The Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan narrowly won 4:2 at the HK RST Pellet Celje and celebrated their first victory after two consecutive defeats. The South Tyroleans are in third place in the table and are five points behind league leader Zell am See. In an evenly-matched game in Celje, Vipiteno were only able to decide the game in the third period. Alex Zecchetto scored in the 46th minute to make it 3:2. Justin Maylan scored an empty-net goal 48 seconds before the end to make the final score. It was the second defeat in a row for Celje. They slipped back to the 15th place in the table.

The HC Meran/o Pircher celebrated a 5:2 away win at the EC-KAC Future Team. However, the visitors were only 3:2 in the lead until 80 seconds before the end of the game. HCM was able to score the final decision with two empty-net goals. Player of the match was Nolan Ritchie with a hat-trick. While the South Tyroleans celebrated their second win in a row, Klagenfurt continued their negative run. The Future Team has been waiting for a point since October 7 and the equivalent of twelve games. As a result, they are bottom of the table with nine points.

In the seventh and final game of the day, the HC Gherdeina valgardena.it narrowly won 2:1 against the Hockey Unterland Cavaliers. It was the Cavaliers' fourth defeat in a row. They are now only in tenth place in the table. Val Gardena, which celebrated its fourth win from the past five games, is 14th. The Furie has won three of their four games this season away from home.Samuel Moroder (11.) and Anthony DeLuca (29./PP1) scored the goals for Val Gardena against Unterland. Alex Egger only managed to score the 1:2 in the 52nd minute. Unterland won the first duel of the season in Val Gardena with 8:4.

Alps Hockey League | 23.11.2023
EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - EC Bregenzerwald 3:7 (0:1, 1:5, 2:1)
Referees: PINIE, RUETZ, Brondi, Hesina. | Spectators: 552
Goals KEC: 1:2 Niemelä J. (24. Podlipnik M. – Lehtonen W.), 2:7 Lehtonen W. (44. Podlipnik M.), 3:7 Niemelä J. (48./PP1 Podlipnik M. – Lehtonen W.)
Goals ECB: 0:1 Hämmerle K. (19. Ranftl F.), 0:2 Lipsbergs R. (21.), 1:3 Hintermann D. (32. Lipsbergs R.), 1:4 Lipsbergs R. (33./PP1 Kulintsev D.), 1:5 Schlögl R. (37. Zwerger J. – Ranftl F.), 1:6 Embrich E. (39./PP1 Kulintsev D. – Lipsbergs R.), 1:7 Wernicke J. (44. Hämmerle K. – Fässler K.)

EC-KAC Future Team - HC Meran/o Pircher 2:5 (2:2, 0:1, 0:2)
Referees: BAJT, KAINBERGER, Arlic, Pötscher. | Spectators: 112
Goals KFT: 1:0 Lam O. (4./SH1 Piuk T. – Wadel M.), 2:2 Slivnik L. (13. Burgar N. – Gomboc L.)
Goals HCM: 1:1 Ritchie N. (12. Anderson C. – Gellon D.), 1:2 Gellon D. (13. Rein N. – Ritchie N.), 2:3 Ritchie N. (27. Dellagiacoma F. – Rein N.), 2:4 McNally B. (59./EN Ansoldi L. - Dellagiacoma F.), 2:5 Ritchie N. (60./EN Gellon D. – Anderson C.)

HK RST Pellet Celje - Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 2:4 (1:2, 1:0, 0:2)
Referees: BULOVEC, MILOVANOVIC, Javornik, Jeram. | Spectators: 200
Goals HKC: 1:1 Mintautiskis M. (6./PP1 Sotlar J.), 2:2 Secen N. (35. Sotlar J.)
Goals WSV: 0:1 Soraruf D. (2. Maylan J.), 1:2 Topatigh D. (12./PP1 Maylan J. – Capannelli A.), 2:3 Zecchetto A. (46. Maylan J.), 2:4 Maylan J. (60./EN Zecchetto A.)

Steel Wings LINZ AG - Red Bull Hockey Juniors 0:3 (0:1, 0:0, 0:2)
Referees: LEHNER, WUNTSCHEK, Kanyo, Telesklav. | Spectators: 132
Goals RBJ: 0:1 Vinzens P. (19./PP1 Kirchebner M. – Zelenov V.), 0:2 Wurzer M. (47.), 0:3 Cernik D. (59./EN Murnieks D. – Helander J.)

EK Die Zeller Eisbären - S.G. Cortina Hafro 2:5 (0:3, 1:1, 1:1)
Referees: SCHAUER, WIDMANN, Matthey, Moidl. | Spectators: 1209
Goals EKZ: 1:4 Ban D. (32./PP1 Huard N. – Wilenius T.), 2:4 Wilenius T. (45. Huard N. – Artner F.)
Goals SGC: 0:1 Carozza M. (1. Traversa T.), 0:2 Parini G. (3. Di Tomaso G. – Barnabo L.), 0:3 Lacedelli R. (20. Cuglietta D. – Di Tomaso G.), 0:4 Carozza M. (24. Barnabo L. – Toffoli G.), 2:5 Carozza M. (48. Traversa T. – Barnabo L.)

Rittner Buam SkyAlps - SHC Fassa Falcons 5:2 (0:1, 1:1, 4:0)
Referees: EGGER, PIRAS, Abeltino, Grisenti. | Spectators: 367
Goals RIT: 1:2 Kostner S. (40. Coatta M. – Fink K.), 2:2 Kostner J. (42. Lobis A. - Szypula E.), 3:2 Szypula E. (45. Kostner J. – Lobis A.), 4:2 Szypula E. (60./EN Fink K. – Kostner S.), 5:2 Kostner S. (60. Coatta M. – Marzolini M.)
Goals FAS: 0:1 Deluca A. (18. De Toni E. – Selin S.), 0:2 Sylwander J. (38. De Toni E. – Selin S.)

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers - HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 1:2 (0:1, 0:1, 1:0)
Referees: MOSCHEN, VIRTA, Cusin, Pace. | Spectators: 270
Goals HCU: 1:2 Egger A. (52. Sullmann A. – Sullmann M.)
Goals GHE: 0:1 Moroder S. (11.), 0:2 DeLuca A. (29./PP1 Schulze K.)

Copyright: Max Pattis