Release from 13.04.2025

Zell am See just one win away from winning the title

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The EK Zeller Eisbären are just one win away from winning the Alps Hockey League title. The Pinzgau side earned a 4:3 overtime victory at HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice in front of 1,750 spectators on Sunday and took a 3:1 lead in the "best-of-7" final series. The fifth game will take place on Tuesday in Zell am See.

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There was another great atmosphere at the fourth game of the final series in Jesenice. The home side got off to a powerful start, but the well-attended away section was able to cheer for the first time: Nick Huard scored in the seventh minute after a quick counter-attack. Jesenice tried to respond quickly, but EKZ goalie Max Zimmermann made a save. The Austrians made it 2:0 on the counter-attack, Hubert Berger firing the puck into the corner of the net. The Slovenians took a timeout and came back just a minute later with the support of their fans. Tjas Lesnicar (10') deflected a shot from the blue line into the net. The score remained 1:2 going into the first break. After the restart, Jesenice put the pressure on again. When the visitors couldn't get the puck out of their own zone, the hosts equalised - Martin Bohinc surprised Zimmermann in the near corner. The Slovenians had the momentum, but Zell am See showed its class time and again. In the 30th minute, Kilian Rappolt was set up perfectly by Berger and held his nerve in front of Us - 2:3. In the third period, the Jesenice goalie prevented Matt McLeod from scoring twice, but then the home side managed to equalise: three minutes before the end, Erik Svetina backhanded the puck into the goal from an acute angle. The game went into overtime, where Zell am See scored the decisive goal. Nick Huard deflected a shot from Devin Steffler to make it 4:3. The Pinzgau team can now win the title in front of their home crowd on Tuesday.

Alps Hockey League:
Sunday, 13.04.2025:
HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice – EK Die Zeller Eisbären 3:4 OT (1:2,1:1,1:0,0:1)
Referees: HOLZER, LAZZERI, Fleischmann, Rinker
Goals 0:1 EKZ Huard N. (06:46 / Widen F. ,McLeod M. / EQ), 0:2 EKZ Berger H. (08:42 / Putnik P. ,Egger M. / EQ), 1:2 JES Lesnicar T. (09:43 / Sturm J. / EQ), 2:2 JES Bohinc M. (21:54 / Sturm J. ,Jenko J. / EQ), 2:3 EKZ Rappold K. (29:14 / Berger H. ,Putnik P. / EQ), 3:3 JES Svetina E. (56:50 / Sillanpaa S. ,Brus N. / EQ), 3:4 EKZ Huard N. (64:48 / Steffler D. ,Predan A. / EQ)
Standings in the "best-of-7" series 1:3