Teams in both rounds move closer together

Salzburg celebrates first win in Pick Round
EC Red Bull Salzburg celebrated its first win in the Pick Round on Sunday. Fehérvár AV 19 had to admit defeat again after the clear defeat on Friday against Vienna. The Hungarians failed to point for only the second time in their last eleven away games. Salzburg, on the other hand, celebrated its first full success from the last six home games. Thus, the home series continued in this duel. In all five encounters this season, the hosts have taken the full three points. On Sunday, Austin Ortega opened the scoring. Thomas Raffl went up 2-0 in the second period and the Hungarians were unable to get back into the match, eventually succumbing to a 4-1 defeat. In addition to a Raffl brace, Red Bulls newcomer Stefan Espeland also added to the tally.




KAC defeats league leader
The EC-KAC celebrated a full success in the top duel against league leader HCB Südtirol Alperia. For the South Tyroleans, this was the first defeat in the third game of the Pick Round. The KAC, on the other hand, celebrated their second win in a row after starting the intermediate round with two defeats. In the standings, the Klagenfurt team was thus able to draw level with the "Foxes", although they have already played one game more. The KAC was able to underline its home strength with this success - they won eight of ten home games in 2021. For Bolzano, on the other hand, things have not been going according to plan away from home in recent weeks. They have already suffered their fifth away defeat in the last eight games. Clemens Unterweger gave his team an early lead on Sunday. Lukas Haudum doubled the lead in the second period before Mike Halmo was able to score for the Foxes for the first time this evening. The KAC eventually prevailed 4-2 and took an important step towards home-ice in the quarterfinals. In the standings, the KAC is now tied with the leaders from South Tyrol.



Linz celebrates shutout win over Bratislava
The Steinbach Black Wings 1992 got back on the winning track after their first loss in the Qualification Round on Friday. The Linz team prevailed for the first time this season against the iClinic Bratislava Capitals. For the Upper Austrians, this was already the sixth win in the past seven games or the third win in the Intermediate Round. The league newcomer from Slovakia, on the other hand, suffered its second defeat in the third game. While the Capitals' lead on the fourth place in the standings melted to two points, the Black Wings are only one point below the red line in 1992. Juha-Pekka Hytonen and Moritz Matzka gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead in the first two periods on Sunday. A brace from Brian Lebler eventually gave Linz the 4-0 win. David Kickert celebrated his second shutout of the current season.



VSV in waiting position for playoff places
EC Grand Immo VSV celebrated its third success in the fourth game of the Intermediate Round on Sunday and thus put itself in waiting position for the playoff places. HC TIWAG Innsbruck, on the other hand, could not take the chance to reduce the gap to the top-3 teams. For the Villach team, this was the first win of the season in the duel with the Sharks. After a scoreless first period, Chris Collins opened the scoring for the Eagles. Max Gerlach managed to equalize in the final period, but again Collins put his team in the lead. VSV eventually prevailed 3:1 and remains close on the heels of third-placed Graz.

Graz defeats Quali Round leader
The Moser Medical Graz99ers narrowly beat the Dornbirn Bulldogs 2-1 in the PULS 24 live match. For the Qualification Round leader, this was already the third defeat in the fourth game of the intermediate round. Thus, the Bulldogs' lead on fourth place melted down to two points. However, the victorious Graz99ers, who remain in third place, can by no means feel safe. Fourth-placed EC VSV (tied on points) and Steinbach Black Wings 1992 (one point behind) are still breathing down the Styrians' necks. The intense Sunday game against the Bulldogs was dominated by 99ers newcomer Vitalii Menshikov. He scored a brace in only his fourth ICE game. But also the young 99ers goalie Felix Nußbacher could convince with a saving percentage of 96.4%.

bet-at-home ICE Hockey League | Sunday, February 21, 2021:
Pick Round:

EC Red Bull Salzburg – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 4:1 (1:0,2:0,1:1)
Referees: TRILAR, ZRNIC, Bedynek, Nothegger
Goals RBS: Ortega (1.), Raffl (24.), Espeland (38./pp1), Raffl (52.)
Goal AVS: Mihaly (49./sh1),

EC-KAC – HCB Südtirol Alperia 4:2 (1:0,2:1,1:1)
Referees: NAGY, RENCZ, Bärnthaler, Zgonc.
Goals KAC: Unterweger (4.), Haudum (26./pp1), Strong (38.), Ticar (59.)
Goals HCB: Halmo (30./pp1), Findlay (52./pp1)

Qualification Round:
Steinbach Black Wings 1992 – iClinic Bratislava Capitals 4:0 (1:0,1:0,2:0)
Referees: OFNER, STERNAT, Kontschieder, Riecken.
Goals BWI: Hytonen (18.), Matzka (28.), Lebler (47./pp1, 56.)

HC TIWAG Innsbruck – Die Haie – EC GRAND Immo VSV 1:3 (0:0,0:1,1:2)
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Pardatscher, Seewald.
Goals HCI: Gerlach (47.),
Goals VSV: Collins (34., 55.), Pollastrone (59.)

Moser Medical Graz99ers – Dornbirn Bulldogs 2:1 (1:0,0:0,1:1)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SIEGEL, Gatol, Hribar.
Goals G99: Menshikov (12., 42.)
Goals DEC: Jevpalovs (50.)