Important away win for Italian champion Ritten on the 33rd matchday of the Alps Hockey League. The "Buam" won the Red Bull Juniors on Wednesday evening in Salzburg by a narrow margin with 3-2 goals after extra time, and the Budaj squad is second with 72 points one round before the end of the basic round, level on points with Pustertal and seven points behind leaders Ljubljana.
The Italian champion only needs a win against tail light Linz II on Saturday in Klobenstein to consolidate his second place, as Ritten is ahead in the direct duels against the "Wolves". After last week's semi-final exit in Serie A against Asiago, Ritten coach Jozef Budaj turned all four lines upside down today. The match was quite balanced at the beginning, shortly before the first break the guests from Klobenstein struck twice. In the 17.10 minute defender Andreas Lutz opened the scoring, three seconds before the first siren Julian Kostner increased to 2-0. Both passes came from Thomas Spinell. The middle third was very even. Ritten goalkeeper Kevin Lindskoug had to intervene 10 times, while Salzburg's number 1 Nicolas Wieser, who made his EBEL debut on Sunday, parried 11 shots. However, the Rittners remained 2-0 lead until the last change of sides and in the final third Ritten slipped back a gear. Luka Nyman reduced the score to 1:2 61 seconds after restarting the game, while Salzburg remained in control and even equalized with Nico Feldner in the 54.09 minute to 2:2.
Nothing changed in the result. So this game had to be decided in extra time, where the "Buam" scored the extra point in the 63.57 minute. Captain Dan Tudin outsmarted Wieser in the 1-on-1 draw to make it 3-2. Now the Italian champion is preparing for the last, very important championship game of the Regular Season against Linz II.
Red Bull Juniors – Rittner Buam 2:3 n.V. (0:2, 0:0, 2:0, 0:1)
Red Bull Juniors: Nicolas Wieser (Mauritz Merra); Paul Stapelfeldt-Valtteri Meisaari, Daniel Carlqvist-Luka Nyman, Philipp Mass-Nicolas Appendino; Aatu Luusuaniemi-Max Tjernström-Maximilian Rebernig, Nico Feldner-Robert Arrak-Samuel Eriksson, Julian Klöckl-Aljaz Predan-Elias Lindner, Alexander Frandl-Marcel Zitz-David Rattensberger
Coach: Teemu Levijoki
Rittner Buam: Kevin Lindskoug (Hannes Treibenreif); Randy Gazzola-Ryan Obuchowski, Marco Marzolini-Andreas Lutz, Radovan Gabri-Alexander Brunner, Christoph Vigl-Kevin Fink; Simon Kostner-Matt Lane-Markus Spinell, Alex Frei-Dan Tudin-Thomas Spinell, Philipp Pechlaner-Julian Kostner-Stefan Quinz, Alexander Eisath-Robert Öhler-Adam Giacomuzzi
Coach: Jozef Budaj
Referees: Alex Lazzeri, Oscar Wallner (Johannes Huber, Antonio Piras)
Gol: 0:1 Andreas Lutz (17.10), 0:2 Julian Kostner (19.57), 1:2 Luka Nyman (41.01), 2:2 Nico Feldner (54.09), 2:3 Dan Tudin (63.57)
Alps Hockey League, Matchday 33, Wednesday 29 January 2020
HK Olimpija – EHC Lustenau 2:3 n.V. (0:2, 1:0, 1:0, 0:1)
0:1 Jordan Pfennich (7.52), 0:2 Dominik Oberscheider (17.22), 1:2 Saso Rajsar (36.11), 2:2 Zan Jezovsek (40.35), 2:3 Ryan Glenn (60.42)
VEU Feldkirch – HDD Jesenice 1:2 n.P. (0:0, 0:1, 1:0, 0:1)
0:1 Andrej Hebar (20.33), 1:1 Dylan Stanley (46.55), 1:2 entscheidender Penalty: Erik Svetina (65.00)
EC Kitzbühel – SG Cortina 4:3 (0:2, 1:1, 3:0)
0:1 Remy Giftopoulos (9.48), 0:2 Nicholas Trecapelli (12.24), 0:3 Remy Giftopoulos (37.43), 1:3 Adam Havlik (39.28), 2:3 Manuel Rosenlechner (46.41), 3:3 Adam Havlik (55.17), 4:3 Johan Schreiber (57.38)
EC Bregenzerwald – HC Gherdeina 6:1 (1:0, 4:1, 1:0)
1:0 Daniel Ban (19.43), 2:0 Daniel Ban (25.47), 2:1 Bradley McGowan (26.33), 3:1 Johan Lorraine (33.22), 4:1 Johan Lorraine (37.17), 5:1 Stefan Söder (39.51), 6:1 Julian Zwerger (41.15)
EC Klagenfurt II – HC Pustertal 2:4 (1:0, 0:1, 1:3)
1:0 Mark Kompain (13.22), 1:1 Peter MacArthur (32.42), 1:2 James Lewis (45.23), 1:3 Brandon McNally (48.20), 2:3 Marco Kasper (52.31), 2:4 Peter MacArthur (57.05)
Fassa Falcons – EK Zeller Eisbären 3:1 (0:0, 1:1, 2:0)
1:0 Lucas Chiodo (30.58), 1:1 Maks Selan (38.24), 2:1 Linus Lundström (52.04), 3:1 Lucas Chiodo (57.23)
Steel Wings Linz – Wipptal Broncos 2:10 (1:4, 1:4, 0:2)
0:1 Mathieu Lemay (3.16), 1:1 Laurens Ober (8.51), 1:2 Slater Doggett (9.23), 1:3 Mathieu Lemay (12.51), 1:4 Slater Doggett (15.12), 1:5 Mathieu Lemay (18.46), 1:6 Mathieu Lemay (20.19), 2:6 Florian Sinzinger (29.08), 2:7 Paolo Bustreo (29.30), 2:8 Slater Doggett (31.54), 2:9 Tobias Kofler (41.02), 2:10 Hannes Oberdörfer (50.17)
Vienna Capitals Silver – Asiago Hockey 2:5 (0:1, 1:0, 1:4)
0:1 Davide Dal Sasso (2.58), 1:1 Hans Löfquist (36.56), 1:2 Vincent Loschiavo (44.00), 2:2 Henrik Neubauer (44.48), 2:3 Marco Rosa (46.12), 2:4 Louie Caporusso (50.11), 2:5 Cameron Ginnetti (59.05)
The Alps Hockey League table after the 33rd matchday
1. HK Olimpija 79 Punkte
2. Rittner Buam 72
3. HC Pustertal 72
4. SG Cortina 59
5. Fassa Falcons 58
6. Asiago Hockey 57
7. HDD Jesenice 57
8. VEU Feldkirch 57
9. EHC Lustenau 55
10. Wipptal Broncos 54
11. Red Bull Juniors 51
12. EK Zeller Eisbären 47
13. HC Gherdeina 45
14. EC Kitzbühel 39
15. EC Klagenfurt II 32
16. EC Bregenzerwald 29
17. Vienna Capitals Silver 25
18. Steel Wings Linz 3