Zell am See defends top spot in the table with victory in top game

League leaders Zell am See and reigning champions Ritten played a high-class and exciting game in front of 2,500 spectators. Hubert Berger scored the only goal in the first period, Ritten equalised after the restart. A McLeod brace briefly made things clearer, but the South Tyroleans struck back - Fink (39) and Szypula (41) equalised again. Seven minutes before the end, Max Wilfan put Zell back in the lead and a Jennes goal made the final score 5:3. The Pinzgau team are now three points ahead of Jesenice.

HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice celebrated their fifth win in a row, beating Kitzbühel 7:3. The visitors took the lead with a brace from Chris Schutz, but two goals from Sillanpää made it 2:2 after 22 minutes. Kitzbühel went ahead once more, but Jesenice turned the game around with two late goals in the middle period - 4:3. In the third period, Tadej Cimzar added a goal on power play and two more goals ensured the final score.

With a 4:2 win in Celje, the Unterland Cavaliers moved up to seventh place. In a game with several penalties on both sides, the South Tyroleans took the lead in the second period. The hosts managed to equalise, but then Unterland scored twice within 19 seconds while short-handed (Alex Egger and Michael Sullmann). The Slovenians came close once more, but an empty netter from Kristians Samitis ensured the final score.

The Wipptal Broncos laid the foundation for their home win against Meran in the first period. Nicholas Campoli and Paul Eisendle scored within 19 seconds. Adam Capannelli even increased the lead to 3:0 in the middle period, with Meran only managing to score the consolation goal. While Meran's four-game winning streak came to an end, the Broncos moved up to ninth place.

Alps Hockey League, 26.12.2024:
SIJ Acroni Jesenice – Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 7:3 (1:2,3:1,3:0)
Referees: KAINBERGER, LEHNER, Markizeti, Matthey.
Goals 0:1 KEC Schutz C. (03:26 / Fröwis J. ,Ketonen N. / EQ), 0:2 KEC Schutz C. (08:36 / Ketonen N. ,Podlipnik M. / EQ), 1:2 JES Sillanpaa S. (10:35 / Brus N. ,Valtola O. / 5:3 PP), 2:2 JES Sillanpaa S. (21:05 / Sojer T. ,Slivnik L. / EQ), 2:3 KEC Fröwis J. (24:20 / Ketonen N. ,Schutz C. / EQ), 3:3 JES Jenko J. (37:58 / Valtola O. ,Sturm J. / EQ), 4:3 JES Lesnicar T. (39:06 / Sillanpaa S. / EQ), 5:3 JES Cimzar T. (51:10 / Slivnik L. ,Koblar G. / PP), 6:3 JES Slivnik L. (58:23 / Urukalo Z. ,Selan M. / EQ), 7:3 JES Valtola O. (59:36 / Jenko J. / EQ)

HK RST Pellet Celje – Hockey Unterland Cavaliers 2:4 (0:0,1:3,1:1)
Referees: LESNIAK, UNTERWEGER, Jeram, Telesklav.
Goals 0:1 CAV Murnieks D. (22:38 / Sullmann Pilser A M. ,Samitis K. / EQ), 1:1 HKC Sodja Zalokar G. (25:32 / Sojer M. ,Tsarkovskyi D. / EQ), 1:2 CAV Egger A. (28:43 / Curti A. ,Liprandi M. / SH), 1:3 CAV Sullmann Pilser A M. (29:02 / Egger A. / SH), 2:3 HKC Sojer M. (42:41 / Bukovec M. ,Logar M. / PP), 2:4 CAV Samitis K. (59:26 / Murnieks D. / EQ)

EK Die Zeller Eisbären – Rittner Buam SkyAlps 5:3 (1:0,2:2,2:1)
Referees: SNOJ, WENUSCH, Preiser, Rinker.
Goals 1:0 EKZ Berger H. (13:16 / Putnik P. ,Rappold K. / EQ), 1:1 RIT Kostner S. (21:37 / Insam M. ,Hjorth E. / PP), 2:1 EKZ McLeod M. (32:07 / unassisted / EQ), 3:1 EKZ McLeod M. (35:08 / unassisted / EQ), 3:2 RIT Fink K. (38:47 / Cuglietta D. / EQ), 3:3 RIT Szypula E. (40:43 / Fink K. / EQ), 4:3 EKZ Wilfan M. (53:03 / Johansson R. ,Rappold K. / EQ), 5:3 EKZ Jennes C. (54:17 / McLeod M. ,Huard N. / EQ)

Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan – HC Meran/o Pircher 3:1 (2:0,1:0,0:1)
Referees: EGGER, GIACOMOZZI, Abeltino, Grisenti.
Goals 1:0 WSV Campoli N. (15:02 / Capannelli A. ,Galimberti T. / EQ), 2:0 WSV Eisendle P. (15:21 / Livingston J. ,Soraruf D. / EQ), 3:0 WSV Capannelli A. (22:47 / Cianfrone B. ,Sanvido C. / PP), 3:1 HCM Nakajima T. (49:58 / Pietroniro M. ,Madsen P. / PP)