Top game on Sunday in Salzburg!
On Sunday there will be a big game in the win2day ICE Hockey League between unbeaten leaders EC Red Bull Salzburg and EC-KAC, who have won the series three times in the past. The equally undefeated HCB Südtirol Alperia is playing away for the first time this season – it is already the second time that it meets the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg. HK SZ Olimpija bid farewell to AV19 Ales Music ahead of their home game against Hydro Fehérvár. Furthermore, the Moser Medical Graz99ers want to stop the offensive express of the EC iDM heat pumps VSV and the spusu Vienna Capitals are looking for more efficiency in front of the goal.
Host broadcaster PULS24 on Sunday the hit game of the sixth round between EC Red Bull Salzburg and EC-KAC. Salzburg are still undefeated after five games – and have not conceded a goal on home ice for over 169 minutes. David Kickert recorded a shutout in each of the last two games. Salzburg, who have dominated in all previous games, are missing out on Lukas Schreier, Ty Loney, Dominique Heinrich and now Troy Bourke (lower body). The use of Lucas Thaler is questionable. Last season, the “Red Bulls” won three of the four encounters with the “Red Jackets”, scoring in all four. After a bumpy start in the league, EC-KAC has three wins in a row, but the Klagenfurt team died a long time after the penalty shoot-out in Graz on Friday. The Austrian record champions still take too many penalties (11.6 minutes per game). The “Red Jackets” will also play against Salzburg with their best line-up. There have been a total of 153 matches between these two teams, of which Salzburg have won 82 and Klagenfurt 71.
BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg – HCB Südtirol Alperia
Next to Salzburg, the second undefeated team, HCB Südtirol Alperia, will compete with the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg on Sunday. The “Foxes” have their first away game of the season waiting for them – at home they have the second defensive, with only three goals conceded, and again offensive, with 3.5 goals per game, convinced. In the most recent 5-1 win over Innsbruck, Bozen played full field, but then had to bemoan Angelo Miceli’s injury-related absence. The Vorarlbergers suffered a 2:3 defeat after a shootout on Friday and only conceded the equalizer ten seconds before the end. Nevertheless, there was the point, the fourth this season – everyone got them at home. The two teams met on the first day of the game: Bolzano won 3-0, winning from two very early goals.
spusu Vienna Capitals – HC Pustertal Wolves
The spusu Vienna Capitals are expecting HC Pustertal Wölfe – and the Viennese had won all their games against the South Tyroleans in the previous season. Only in the first encounter (October 15 | 4:3 OT) did the “Wolves” score a point. The team of head coach Stefan Mair resists after a clear 0:3 defeat in Salzburg in the Austrian capital, against the “Red Bulls” they lacked creativity on the offensive with only ten shots on goal. The “Caps” had significantly more O-Zone time on Friday: 50 shots by Yellow-Black on the goal of HK SZ Olimpija – nevertheless, the Viennese, who also remained without a power play hit in their fourth game, had to play 2: beat 3 For Vienna it is the last encounter before the return of the suspended Rafael Rotters. Philippe Horsky returns to Vienna for the first time as assistant coach at HC Pustertal.
EC VSV – Moser Medical Graz99ers
The EC iDM heat pumps VSV, in which John Hughes returns to the line-up, took a break on Friday and is now dealing with the Moser Medical Graz99ers. The Styrians recently showed what is probably their best game of the season against EC-KAC: Despite absences – especially on the defensive – the 99ers showed a fighting spirit and forced the record champions into overtime after being two goals behind. Villach has won its last two games – and above all convincing offensively with 6.5 goals per game. In the past encounters between these two teams, they have always scored a lot of goals, at least seven in the last four games – once even 16. In the last two home games against Graz, the “Adlers” scored a total of 17 goals. Dominik Grafenthin meets his former club for the first time in Villach: The 27-year-old has spent the last four seasons on the Mur and played 168 games for Graz. After the first five rounds, VSV is the most disciplined team in the league, and on average they didn’t even take two penalties per game. Graz brings an average of 8.8 minutes to the penalty box.
HK SZ Olimpija – Hydro Fehérvár AV19
HK SZ Olimpija bid farewell to veteran Ales Music ahead of the encounter with Hydro Fehérvár AV19. His number 16 jersey will be pulled under the roof of the hall in a festive ceremony. With the exception of the 2017/18 season, which he just spent in Székesfehérvár, Music always played in Ljubljana. He played 547 league games and scored 96 goals and 158 assists. Sunday’s game leaves two winners from Friday’s meetings, who already clashed on September 23: Back then, the “dragons” prevailed 3-2, celebrating their first league victory over Hungary ever since they won all four games in the previous season lost. Fehérvár has won both games since then, convincing with strong power play (36.4%). The Slovenians are in the majority – like Vienna – still without a goal.