Alps Hockey League: Zell am See win – Bregen­z­er­wald also victo­rious

League leaders EK Die Zeller Eisbären claimed a narrow 2:1 away win at S.G. Cortina Hafro. While Zell am See celebrated their third win in their third game, Cortina suffered their third defeat. The Italians are bottom of the table with no points and already trail the “Eisbären” by twelve points. Zell am See led 2:0 after 28 minutes, and Cortina reduced the deficit to 1:2 shortly afterwards, but they were unable to find an equaliser.

In the second Master Round game, defending champions Rittner Buam SkyAlps lost 3:6 at SIJ Acroni Jesenice. It was the “Buam”'s second consecutive defeat, leaving them down in fourth place in the table. In a highly entertaining game, particularly in the final period, the new second-placed team from Slovenia led 2:0 after 26 minutes. The score was 2:1 at the end of the second period. Things became really turbulent after the restart: Jesenice initially opened up a comfortable 4:1 lead, but almost let what seemed a certain win slip away as Ritten closed to 3:4 with four minutes remaining. Two late goals in the final 20 seconds nevertheless gave Jesenice a convincing victory on paper, their first win in their third Master Round game.

In Qualification Round A, Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan comfortably defeated Red Bull Hockey Juniors 4:0. It was the South Tyroleans' second win in their third game, while the Juniors suffered their third defeat. However, HC Meran/o Pircher remain top of the table. The “Adler” secured a narrow 5:4 away win at HC Gherdeina valgardena.it. It was their third win in three games, giving them a two-point lead over the Broncos in the standings.

Sterzing took the lead on the power play through Connor Sanvido after 16 scoreless minutes. It then took until the 37 minute for Fabian Hackhofer, also with the man advantage, to make it 2:0. The Broncos scored their other two goals in the 47 and 54 minutes. For WSV netminder Dominik Groh, who stopped all 27 shots, it was his third shutout of the season.

Everything remains very close in Qualification Round B. HK RST Pellet Celje lead the way with eight points, followed by KHL Sisak on six. The Slovenians lost 2:3/SO at home to EC Bregenzerwald on Saturday. The team from Vorarlberg are third with five points. Sisak also claimed a 4:1 away win at Hockey Unterland Cavaliers, who are bottom of the table with three points. After the score stood at 1:1 in Neumarkt after 20 minutes, the Croatian league newcomers opened up a 3:1 lead in the second period. Shortly before the end of the game, Vlastimil Dostalek set the final score with his second goal of the evening.

In the second game of the group, Celje only took a 2:1 lead through Mark Sojer with 95 seconds remaining in the final period. However, Bregenzerwald battled their way back into the game and Yannik Lebeda equalised with 43 seconds remaining. The game ultimately went to a shootout, in which only Bregenzerwald defenceman Richard Schlögl converted his penalty shot.

Alps Hockey League:

Master Round:

SIJ Acroni Jesenice vs. Rittner Buam SkyAlps 6:3 (1:0,1:1,4:2)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

S.G. Cortina Hafro vs. EK Die Zeller Eisbären 1:2 (0:1,1:1,0:0)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

Qualification Round A:

Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors 4:0 (1:0,1:0,2:0)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

HC Gherdeina valgardena.it vs HC Meran/o Pircher 4:5 (1:0,0:2,3:3)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

Qualification Round B:

HK RST Pellet Celje vs. EC Bregenzerwald 2:3 n.P. (1:0,0:1,1:1,0:0)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers vs. KHL Sisak 1:4 (1:1, 0:2, 0:1)
>> Goalscorers and statistics