League leaders EK Die Zeller Eisbären end Wipptal Broncos' winning streak

The second repeat of the final between Cortina and Ritten was a back-and-forth affair, with the defending champions from Ritten once again coming out on top. As they did on 27 October, the game ended 5:4 after overtime. Cortina initially took the lead in the tenth minute, but the visitors had pulled clear to 3:1 by the 34th minute. Diego Cuglietta scored twice, among others. The final period then really came to life. Cortina first fought their way back into the game and equalised in the 54th minute, before the Buam regained the lead through Alan Lobis with two and a half minutes remaining.

However, Luca Barnabo had the final say in regulation time, scoring the equaliser with just nine seconds remaining. In overtime, Markus Spinell eventually netted the game-winning goal with only 21 seconds left, firing third-placed Ritten to their first win after three consecutive defeats. Fifth-placed Cortina suffered their first defeat after three straight wins.

League leaders EK Die Zeller Eisbären ended Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan's five-game winning streak. The Salzburg side prevailed 5:3 away from home in an open, end-to-end contest. After Hubert Berger scored twice, Zell am See led 2:0 after 17 minutes. However, Sterzing were unfazed and the score was 3:3 after 48 minutes. It remained level until five minutes from time, when Frederik Widen made it 4:3 for the “Eisbären”, before they sealed the final score with an empty-net goal seconds before the end.

Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel lost 2:5 at Hockey Unterland Cavaliers, with the Tyroleans slipping to fourth place in the standings. Unterland climbed to seventh. Although the visitors took the lead in the seventh minute, the team from Neumarkt then took control. The Cavaliers pulled clear to 3:1 by the 33th minute. Kitzbühel cut the deficit to 2:3 in the third period, but the “Adler”'s hopes were short-lived as the hosts restored their two-goal lead just four minutes later. They completed the scoring with an empty-net goal.

HC Meran/o continued their upward trend against EC Bregenzerwald. The South Tyroleans, who climbed to eighth place in the standings and celebrated their second consecutive win, prevailed 3:1. For Bregenzerwald, it was their fourth defeat in the last five games. The side from Vorarlberg remain in eleventh place in the standings. In Meran, Fabian Ranftl initially gave ECB the lead (9th), but the hosts turned the game around in the middle period through two goals from Skate Skalde. The centre scored both goals on the power play. HCM added two further goals in the final period.

In SIJ Acroni Jesenice's narrow 3:2 home win over bottom side HC Gherdeina valgardena.it, the new second-placed team took the lead in the ninth minute. The Slovenians extended their advantage to 3:1 by the 44th minute, but the visitors pulled back to 2:3 with just under two minutes remaining. They were unable to find an equaliser, however, and suffered their fourth consecutive defeat. It was Jesenice's third straight win.

Alps Hockey League:

SIJ Acroni Jesenice vs. HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 3:2 (1:0,1:1,1:1)
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Hockey Unterland Cavaliers vs. Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 5:2 (1:1,2:0,2:1)
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Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan vs. EK Die Zeller Eisbären 3:5 (1:3,1:0,1:2)
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HC Meran/o Pircher vs. EC Bregenzerwald 4:1 (0:1,2:0,2:0)
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S.G. Cortina Hafro vs. Rittner Buam SkyAlps 4:5 after overtime (1:0,0:3,3:1)

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