THE SUMMARY: In the Rittner Buam ranks on Thursday night, three players cannot be employed. Frei and Sailio, long term injured, were joined by Brunner, while Lutz and Fink returned to the team. In the very first minutes the guests have to kill a penalty but then in the middle of the first period Zach Osburn brings the blue-reds in the lead. Then Simon Kostner and his mates cleverly defended the advantage until the first intermission.

In the second half of the game Cortina pushes for the draw (16 shots to 8) and after a good half an hour of play, it even obtains three powerplays in its favour. But Smith proved to be an insuperable obstacle for the adversaries. So, just before the last of the 3 time penalties ends, the guests score in numeric inferiority. On the day of his return to the field, Kevin Fink scores the 0:2 in short hand after 37'53" of play.

For the Rittner Buam things get even better at the beginning of the third period, when at the 43rd minute Manuel Öhler beats De Filippo for the third blue-red goal. Then the guests, who had lost the first game of the regular season with a 4:1 away defeat, managed with ability the three reassuring advantage. 31 seconds before the end of the game, they extend the lead to 0:4 with Adam Giacomuzzi. At the sound of the siren, Jake Smith can be credited with the fifth shutout of the season. 

Thanks to this away victory, the Rittner Buam can consolidate their third place in the Master Round classification, considering that Jesenice (6:2 in Val di Fassa) and Asiago (3:1 in Lustenau) also won their first game. For Santeri Heiskanen's team, the second phase of the season will continue with a home game. On Saturday 29th January at 6 pm the Fassa Falcons will be the guests at the Ritten Arena.

Alps Hockey League - Master Round 21/22

S.G. Cortina Hafro - Rittner Buam 0:4 (0:1, 0:1, 0:2)

Goals: 0:1 Zach Osburn (10'36"), 0:2 Kevin Fink (37'53" /SH), 0:3 Manuel Öhler (42'09"), 0:4 Adam Giacomuzzi (59'29")

Photo: Max Pattis