Red Bull Hockey Juniors and Bregen­z­er­wald win – defeat for leaders Zeller Eisbären

The Zeller Eisbären's three-game winning streak came to an end at Cortina on Thursday. The hosts took the lead after just 62 seconds through Nikita Ushnev, before Luca Barnabò made it 2:0 in the first period. The Italians sealed the result with two goals in three minutes in the middle period, as Barnabò and Leonardo Felicetti scored to make it 4:0. The AHL runners-up added two more goals in the closing stages to secure a 6:0 victory, while netminder Hayden Hawkey recorded his second shutout of the season.

Rittner Buam SkyAlps are now Zell am See's closest challengers. The reigning champions celebrated their fifth consecutive win against Gröden. In a game that was evenly balanced for long stretches, Alan Lobis (19th minute/PP) scored the only goal of the first period. Ritten briefly extended their lead to 3:0 in the middle period, before Jordan Di Cicco pulled one back for the hosts before the second intermission. Manuel Öhler restored the three-goal lead with his second goal of the evening, and the visitors ultimately won 4:2 to overtake Kitzbühel in the standings.

Aleksanteri Heiskanen enjoyed a perfect debut for Celje. The Finnish netminder made 46 saves in the derby at Jesenice and helped his team to a 2:1 away win. Although the hosts took the lead through Anze Prostor as early as the third minute, Celje equalised in the first period. Miha Logar scored the game-winner in the 28th minute, and the win lifted Celje into seventh place.

After five consecutive defeats, Red Bull Hockey Juniors returned to winning ways, with the Salzburg side winning 4:1 at KHL Sisak. Adrian Gesson gave them the lead in the first period, but Niko Mikkola equalised for the hosts in the second period in front of almost 1.000 spectators. Paul Vinzens restored the Juniors' lead shortly before the second intermission. In the final period, the Salzburg side extended their advantage through further goals from Vinzens and 17-year-old Paul Oberhauser to secure the win.

EC Bregenzerwald also won their second meeting of the season with Meran. The Vorarlberg side took the lead late in the first period through Marcel Wohlmuth and extended it to 3:0 in the middle period (Lipsbergs 29th minute / Hintermann 40th minute). Teruto Nakajima scored for Meran shortly after the restart, but the score remained 1:3 until the final buzzer. Bregenzerwald moved up to tenth place as a result.

Alps Hockey League:

SIJ Acroni Jesenice vs. HK RST Pellet Celje 1:2 (1:1,0:1,0:0)
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KHL Sisak vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors 1:4 (0:1,1:1,0:2)
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HC Gherdeina valgardena.it vs. Rittner Buam SkyAlps 2:4 (0:1,1:3,1:0)
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HC Meran/o Pircher vs. EC Bregenzerwald 1:3 (0:1,0:2,1:0)
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S.G. Cortina Hafro vs. EK Die Zeller Eisbären 6:0 (2:0,2:0,2:0)

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