Release from 26.01.2025
Four games of the 45th round of the win2day ICE Hockey League were played on Sunday. Neither the sixth-placed Steinbach Black Wings nor the seventh-placed EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV showed any weakness. The Black Wings celebrated a clear 8:1 home win against Olimpija Ljubljana and thus maintained their one-point lead over VSV, who in turn recorded a 4:1 away win at Pioneers Vorarlberg. The spusu Vienna Capitals caused a surprise by beating defending champions EC Red Bull Salzburg 5:3. The Capitals are now seven points ahead of the eleventh-placed Pioneers in tenth place. The EC-KAC also celebrated a resounding 11:3 victory over bottom-placed HC TIWAG Innsbruck.
In the spusu Vienna Capitals' 5:3 home win against a shorthanded EC Red Bull Salzburg, everything initially went according to plan for the visitors. The Red Bulls were already 2:0 ahead after ten minutes. It took the home side until the 23rd minute before they scored for the first time. In the 29th minute, the tenth-placed team even managed to equalize through Evan Jasper. The forward also tied the game at 3:3 shortly before the end of the third period. Salzburg took the lead again in the meantime. The score remained 3:3 until four minutes before the end of the game, when Zane Franklin scored to make it 4:3 for the Capitals. They made it all clear with an empty-netter shortly before the end. It was the first defeat for the Red Bulls after three wins in a row, but they remain in fourth place in the table. The Capitals celebrated their first win after two consecutive defeats.
Linz confident against Ljubljana
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz clearly prevailed against Olimpija Ljubljana 8:1 and thus remain in sixth place in the table, one point ahead of seventh-placed VSV. The Black Wings had big problems at the beginning in front of 4,121 fans and even went behind in the 15th minute. The Upper Austrians only really turned up the heat in the second period. They pulled away to 4:1 with four goals and BWL were also successful four times in the final period. Brodi Stuart and Brian Lebler each scored a brace. League top scorer Lebler also recorded two assists. It was one of three wins from the last five games for Linz, while Olimpija, who slipped to ninth place, suffered their second defeat in a row.
Villach stays close to Linz
Thanks to the important 4:1 away win of EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV at Pioneers Vorarlberg, VSV keeps the gap to Linz at just one point. Next Tuesday, the big duel for sixth place between Villach and Linz is on the program (19:15/live.ice.hockey). For the Pioneers, on the other hand, the loss was a setback in the battle for the pre-playoffs. In eleventh place, they are now seven points behind the tenth-placed Vienna Capitals. The Vorarlberg team had little to say against VSV. The visitors led 1:0 after the first period and pulled away to 3:0 by the 36th minute. John Hughes even made it 4:0 in the 45th minute, but VSV goalkeeper J.P. Lamoureux was denied his second shutout of the season as the Pioneers scored the consolation goal six minutes before the end. In the end, it was the second win in a row for the “Eagles”, while the Pioneers were beaten again for the first time after two wins in a row.
KAC outclasses Innsbruck
The EC-KAC had no problems against bottom of the table HC TIWAG Innsbruck and celebrated a commanding 11:3 home win. As a result, the KAC climbed back to second place in the table, just one point behind leaders Fehérvár. At the start of the game, however, the visitors from Innsbruck kept up well. They were only trailing 2:3 after the first period. However, the “Sharks” collapsed right from the start in the middle period and conceded four goals between the 23rd and 26th minute. Only 18-year-old Samuel Leitner celebrated his debut as a starter in Innsbruck's goal. He had already came into the game against Pustertal on Friday. After the 2:7, he was replaced by 19-year-old Isaac Schönthaler, who stood between the posts for the first time in the win2day ICE Hockey League. Schönthaler had to concede four more goals in the further course of the game. In front of 4,200 fans in the Heidi Horten-Arena, Raphael Herburger was the player of the night with three goals and three assists. Apart from Herburger, no player was able to get on the scoresheet more than once.
win2day ICE Hockey League
Sunday, 26.01.2025:
Steinbach Black Wings Linz – Olimpija Ljubljana 8:1 (0:1, 4:0, 4:0)
Referees: NAGY, SMETANA, Bedynek, Nothegger | Spectators: 4.121
Goals BWL: 1:1 Lebler B. (21.), 2:1 Stuart B. (24.), 3:1 Collins S. (28./PP1), 4:1 Ograjensek K. (36./PP1), 5:1 St-Amant S. (46.), 6:1 Lebler B. (46./PP1), 7:1 Stuart B. (49.), 8:1 Witting M. (60.)
Goal OLL: 0:1 Sabolic R. (15./PP1)
EC-KAC – HC TIWAG Innsbruck 11:3 (3:2, 5:0, 3:1)
Referees: GROZNIK, SOOS, Muzsik, Vaczi | Spectators: 4.196
Goals KAC: 1:0 Sablattnig T. (2.), 2:1 Herburger R. (13.), 3:1 From M. (15.), 4:2 Herburger R. (23.), 5:2 Nickl T. (25.), 6:2 Hundertpfund T. (25.), 7:2 Strong S. (26.), 8:2 Schwinger S. (37.), 9:3 Jensen Aabo J. (43./PP1), 10:3 Hochegger F. (44.), 11:3 Herburger R. (53.)
Goals HCI: 1:1 Grasso P. (8.), 3:2 Bracco J. (20.), 8:3 Bär L. (41.)
Pioneers Vorarlberg – EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV 1:4 (0:1, 0:2, 1:1)
Referees: OFNER, STERNAT, Pardatscher, Sparer | Spectators: 2.011
Goal PIV: 1:4 Woger D. (54.)
Goals VSV: 0.1 Wallenta E. (11.), 0:2 Hancock K. (25./PP1), 0:3 Coatta M. (36.), 0:4 Hughes J. (45./PP1)
spusu Vienna Capitals – EC Red Bull Salzburg 5:3 (0:2, 3:1, 2:0)
Referees: M. NIKOLIC, SCHAUER, Gatol-Schafranek, Riecken | Spectators: 5.110
Goals VIC: 1:2 Predan A. (23.), 2:2 Jasper E. (29./PP1), 3:3 Jasper E. (39./PP1), 4:3 Franklin Z. (57.), 5:3 Cramarossa J. (60./EN)
Goals RBS: 0:1 Lewington T. (7.), 0:2 Rowe A. (10.), 2:3 Schreier L. (30.)