Winning streaks of Ritten and Salzburg come to an end

The Rittner Buam were the measure of all things in the Alps Hockey League before the game in Merano. The first AHL champions had a ten-game winning streak and had thus also taken the lead in the table. However, Merano got off to a much better start on Thursday, with the home side leading 2:0 after just six minutes thanks to two goals from Calder Anderson. The visitors from Klobenstein were not shocked and struck back in power play: first Kevin Fink (16th) reduced the deficit, then Max Coatta (22nd) even equalised. However, Meran went ahead again two seconds before the second period break, with Anderson celebrating his hat-trick. Ritten dominated proceedings in the final period, but were repeatedly thwarted by goalie Andrei Makarov, who held on to the narrow victory in the final phase. With the 3:2 victory, Merano also gained revenge for the defeat in the first season meeting.

Zell am See ousts Juniors from second place
After eight wins in a row, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors were also beaten again in their visit to Kitzbühel. The game was characterised by "Corin Konradsheim Night". The former ice hockey crack had a serious accident in 2017 and has been fighting his way back ever since. After Salzburg took a 2:0 lead with goals from Vasily Zelenov (12th) and Phillip Sinn (15th), the Eagles equalised with two spectacular goals from Waltteri Lehtonen (16th) and Chris Seto (18th) before the first break to make it 2:2. After a goalless middle period, it was Alexander Maxa (45th) who gave the Tyroleans the lead for the first time. 73 seconds later, the Sportpark cheered again when Waltteri Lehtonen scored his brace to make it 4:2. Salzburg equalised the game in a hot final phase when Daniel Murnieks (48th) and Devin Steffler (54th) made it 4:4. However, Joonas Niemelä made it 5:4 in double powerplay.

Zell am See climbed back into second place with a narrow 5:4 win in Lustenau. The visitors quickly took a 2:0 lead through Alexander Lahoda and Adis Alagic. However, the Vorarlberg team did not give up and got to the scoreboard thanks to Jesper Öhrvall in double powerplay. After the hosts even managed to equalise, Zell am See pulled two goals ahead again. It remained exciting, however, as Max Wennlund completed a fine solo run in the 38th minute to make it 3:4. EHC captain Max Wilfan equalised again just one minute later. But Zell am See had the right answer as Frederik Widen added his name to the scoresheet 21 seconds before the end of the second. The Vorarlberg team pressed for another equaliser in the third period, but the visitors managed to hold on to their narrow lead.

Narrow victory for Linz, highest success for Fassa
The Unterland Cavaliers missed out on the jump to eighth place - which is still held by Lustenau - due to a shootout defeat in Linz. An early goal from Aleksi Käyrä made it look for a long time like the South Tyroleans would win on the road, as the score remained 0:1 until the 60th minute. 21 seconds before the end of regulation, however, Mikael Saha provided the deserved equaliser. The Linz forward finally became the match-winner in the shootout and gave his team a 2:1 victory.

A one-sided game took place in Klagenfurt, where the Fassa Falcons celebrated their highest victory in the Alps Hockey League. Although the Italians only took the lead in the 13th minute, they left the ice with a 9:0 victory in the end. Sebastian Selin recorded a hat-trick and three assists. Fassa had already won 6:0 at the KAC once in 2017.

Alps Hockey League, 7.12.2023:
EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - Red Bull Hockey Juniors 5:4 (2:2,0:0,3:2)
Referees: KAINBERGER, RUETZ, Eisl, Rinker
Goals 0:1 RBJ Zelenov V. (11:57 / Myllymaa K. ,Helander J. / EQ), 0:2 RBJ Sinn P. (14:48 / Duller M. ,Mackner M. / EQ), 1:2 KEC Lehtonen W. (15:48 / Hochfilzer H. ,Niemelä J. / EQ), 2:2 KEC Seto C. (17:02 / Kreuter D. ,Maxa A. / EQ), 3:2 KEC Maxa A. (44:18 / Rotter R. ,Hochfilzer H. / PP), 4:2 KEC Lehtonen W. (45:31 / Ebner M. ,Niemelä J. / EQ), 4:3 RBJ Murnieks D. (47:33 / Assavolyuk D. ,Sinn P. / EQ), 4:4 RBJ Steffler D. (53:53 / Schreiner V. / EQ), 5:4 KEC Niemelä J. (55:35 / Podlipnik M. ,Lehtonen W. / 5:3 PP)

EC-KAC Future Team - SHC Fassa Falcons 0:9 (0:2,0:2,0:5)
Referees: LESNIAK, MEIXNER, Bergant, Javornik
Goals 0:1 FAS Deluca A. (12:30 / Forte M. ,Defrancesco M. / EQ), 0:2 FAS Schiavone D. (15:42 / Selin S. ,Forte M. / EQ), 0:3 FAS Selin S. (28:22 / Näslund V. ,Schiavone D. / EQ), 0:4 FAS Biondi L. (31:31 / Selin S. / PP), 0:5 FAS Iori D. (44:17 / Selin S. ,Schiavone D. / 5:3 PP), 0:6 FAS Selin S. (47:42 / Näslund V. ,Sylwander J. / PP), 0:7 FAS Iori D. (50:50 / De Toni E. ,Schiavone D. / PP), 0:8 FAS Selin S. (54:12 / De Toni E. ,Iori D. / EQ), 0:9 FAS Ploner A. (57:58 / Schiavone D. ,De Toni E. / EQ)

Steel Wings LINZ AG- Hockey Unterland Cavaliers 2:1 SO (0:1,0:0,1:0,0:0,1:0)
Referees: MOIDL, OREL, Pötscher, Puff
Goals 0:1 HCU Käyrä A. (06:02 / Sullmann M. ,Pichler F. / EQ), 1:1 SWL Saha M. (59:39 / Lindner L. ,Tialler C. / EQ), 2:1 SWL Sticha T. (65:00 / GWS)

EHC Lustenau - EK Die Zeller Eisbären 4:5 (1:2,3:3,0:0)
Referees: SCHAUER, SPIEGEL, Fecchio, Jäger
Goals 0:1 EKZ Lahoda A. (04:11 / Altmann M. ,Alagic A. / PP), 0:2 EKZ Alagic A. (10:02 / Posch B. ,Paulweber C. / EQ), 1:2 EHC Öhrvall H. (18:43 / Wennlund M. ,Alasaari F. / 5:3 PP), 2:2 EHC Haberl D. (21:16 / König D. ,Kandemir A. / PP), 2:3 EKZ Huard N. (30:23 / Ban D. ,Widen F. / EQ), 2:4 EKZ Wilenius T. (35:51 / Ban D. ,Widen F. / EQ), 3:4 EHC Wennlund M. (37:05 / Wilfan M. ,Venier L. / EQ), 4:4 EHC Wilfan M. (38:31 / Venier L. ,Gratzer S. / EQ), 4:5 EKZ Widen F. (39:39 / Huard N. ,Ban D. / PP)

HC Meran/o Pircher - Rittner Buam SkyAlps 3:2 (2:1,1:1,0:0)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, PINIE, Cusin, Formaioni
Goals 1:0 HCM Anderson C. (02:15 / Ritchie N. ,Gellon D. / EQ), 2:0 HCM Anderson C. (06:10 / Ricci F. ,Gellon D. / EQ), 2:1 RIT Fink K. (15:43 / Szypula E. ,Kostner S. / PP), 2:2 RIT Coatta M. (21:19 / Amorosa T. ,Szypula E. / PP), 3:2 HCM Anderson C. (39:58 / Borgatello C. ,Garreffa J. / EQ)

Photo: (C) Werner Moritz