South Tyrol wins the ICE top game against Innsbruck 5:1
HCB Südtirol won the top game of the ice hockey league (ICE) on Friday. The second-placed team from Bozen defeated HC Innsbruck 5:1 (1:0,3:1,1:0) on their own ice and moved up to two points behind the leader in a game in the backhand. There were also home wins for the Vienna Capitals (4:1 against KAC), Black Wings Linz (5:3 against Asiago) and Pustertal (3:0 against the Graz 99ers).
Red Bull Salzburg (3-1 at Fehervar) and Pioneers Vorarlberg (4-0 in Ljubljana) achieved away wins.
The South Tyroleans proved to be a stronger team against Innsbruck in the first half and should have gone into the first break with a better lead than Mike Halmo (5th) 1-0. After Corey Mackin made it 1-1, Daniel Mantenuto (27′), Angelo Miceli (28′), Luca Frigo (36′) and Matt Frattin (48′) ensured the home side’s clear success. Innsbruck failed to be the first team to finish in the top 10 – a win would have been necessary for that.
In the new edition of last year’s final against Fehervar, the third Salzburg only introduced the three points at the finish, Peter Schneider (57./SH) and Benjamin Nissner (60./Leernetz) scored decisively. The fourth-placed Black Wings also had a long struggle with Asiago, until the 55th minute after goals from Michael Haga (9th), Emilio Romig (17th) and Graham Knott (25th) and Randal John Gazzola (24th). ), Stefano Marchetti (31st) and Allan Joseph McShane (44th) 3:3.
Then Brodi Ripken hit Stuart, the decision bringing an empty net goal from Knott 57 seconds from the end. The third meeting this season went to Linz, who wrote again after two bankruptcies in a row. In contrast, Asiago has been without a win for five games.
In Vienna, KAC was only able to keep the game open for two-thirds, Manuel Ganahl (34′) could take the lead from the Capitals through Matt Bradley (15’/PP). In the final section, Alex Wall (44th), Maxwell Zimmer (51st / PP) and Bradley (55th / SH) make everything clear. The hosts are taking revenge on Klagenfurt for the two defeats in the previous season’s duels, and that in front of 7,022 spectators. “Full house, heated atmosphere, but we weren’t mentally compatible with this situation today and we weren’t close enough, we can take that much better,” said coach Petri Matikainen.
In the basement duel in the league, bottom-placed Pioneers Vorarlberg scored a clear 4-0 at penultimate Olimpija Ljubljana, reducing the gap to the Slovenians to five points. The Graz 99ers didn’t give Pustertal a chance at 3-0 either.