This HCB is ready for the premier class

With a lot of passion and a lot of playful class, HC Bozen defeated the KAC 4:3. The outstanding players were once again Brett Findlay and Dustin Gazley, who were involved in all the goals and gave this already high-class summit meeting special moments of brilliance. The Foxes now only need one point from the remaining two games against Villach and Linz to secure first place and the associated qualification for the Champions Hockey League.

The duel between the front runner and his first pursuer was tackled at a hellish pace by everyone involved from the first puck drop onwards, with hardly any breaks to take a breather. Only Leland Irving and David Madlener initially had a relatively peaceful evening. The latter represented number one Sebastian Dahm in the KAC goal, who had stayed at home in Carinthia. It took 13 minutes for the first real chance for the visitors, but then the puck promptly found its way into the net: Nick Petersen skillfully deflected a Strong shot to make it 1-0. It was the first goal conceded by the Ireland team at home in 134 minutes of play.

Bozen then tried to gain the upper hand with extremely high forechecking, but had no luck in the end. The KAC was completely different, scoring again in the 29th minute with a deflected shot. This time it was Matt Fraser who gave the decisive change of direction with his trowel. Gazley scores four times, Findlay three times The renewed blow to the neck resulted in a vehement reaction from the home team. The joint conquest of the puck by Daniel Frank and Findlay, at the end of which the disc came to Gazley and was pushed into the goal by him to make it 1-2, was symbolic of Bozen's rebellion. Not one turn of the hand later, the KAC was able to restore the old distance with a nice backhander from Lukas Haudum. Immediately before the goal, the Bolzano goal had briefly jumped out of its rear anchorage, but the score was 3-1.

Dustin Gazley (center) kept the entire KAC defense on its toes. © VANNA ANTONELLO

Undeterred, the HCB continued to move forward. Before the second break, Gazley was able to reduce the score to 2:3 in the power play after good preparatory work from Dan Catenacci. The former Salzburg player was to shine again after the break when he stopped the opposition's build-up play and placed the disc precisely for Findlay. He rounded Madlener with all his elegance and pushed in to make it 3-3.

There was now no stopping the Foxes, they restricted the KAC in its defensive zone for minutes. After Marco Insam, Catenacci and today's strong Mike Halmo missed their best chances, visiting coach Petri Matikainen tried a timeout. But it was in vain: nothing and no one could stop HC Bozen anymore. In the 52nd minute, Dennis Robertson finally shot a hole in Klagenfurt's defense and the South Tyroleans into seventh ice hockey heaven. After another outstanding preparatory work from Gazley and Findlay, the advanced defender hammered the target into the net for the final 4:3. A little later, the HCB was able to celebrate the most important victory of the season to date. By the way, it was only the second defeat for the KAC in the twelfth game in 2021 - both times against HC Bozen. HCB Südtirol Alperia – Klagenfurter AC 4:3 HSBC: Irving (Fazio); Fournier-Plastino, Stollery-Youds, Robertson-Di Perna, Pietroniro; Frank-Findlay-Gazley, Halmo-Catenacci-Bardaro, Frigo-Bernard-Insam, Deluca-Alberga-Miceli Coach: Ireland

KAC: Madlener (Vorauer); Strong-Schumnig, Unterweger-Postma, Steffler-Vallant, Gregorc-Witting; Fraser-Koch-Haudum, Ganahl-Ticar-Petersen, Bischofberger-Hundredppound-Obersteiner, Stefan Geier-Manuel Geier-Sticha Coach: Matikainen

Gates: 0:1 Nick Petersen (13.23), 0:2 Matt Fraser (28.46), 1:2 Dustin Gazley (33.52), 1:3 Lukas Haudum (34.38), 2:3 Dustin Gazley (37.36), 3:3 Brett Findlay (44.26), 4:3 Dennis Robertson (51.14) The other results from Tuesday: Bratislava - Graz 2:1 Goals: 1:0 Hudec (8.51), 2:0 Higgs (29.00), 2:1 Mylläri (39.49) Dornbirn - Fehérvár 4:3 aet Goals: 0:1 Erdely (19.54), 0:2 Campbell (24.11), 1:2 Rapuzzi (28.23), 1:3 Hargrove (28.52), 2:3 Jevpalovs (38.06), 3:3 Schnetzer (39.39), 4:3 Jevpalovs (63.49) Salzburg - Linz 2:4 Goals: 0:1 Lebler (3.25), 0:2 Lebler (28.57), 1:2 Baltram (38.19), 1:3 Gaffal (41.05), 1:4 Zusevics (58.40), 2:4 Jakubitzka (59.59) Villach - Vienna 4:5 Goals: 1:0 Schmidt (08.15), 1:1 Großlercher (11.35), 1:2 Wukovits (14.43), 2:2 Kosmachuk (23.01), 2:3 Nissner (34.49), 2:4 Antal (36.15), 3:4 Krastenbergs (53.47), 4:4 Ulmer (57.16), 4:5 Rotter (58.22) The table: SP G U V TV P 1. HCB South Tyrol 38 26 0 12 121:75 79 2. Klagenfurt 38 24 0 14 117:77 74 3. Fehervar 39 25 0 14 135:113 74 4. Vienna Capitals 39 24 0 15 127:106 69 5. Salzburg 37 20 0 17 111:96 63 6. Dornbirn 38 19 0 19 110:106 55 7. Graz99ers 38 17 0 21 105:124 50 8. Bratislava 38 17 0 21 97:124 50 9. Innsbruck 37 14 0 23 118:131 44 10. Villach 38 14 0 24 90:124 41 11. Linz 38 9 0 29 74:129 28

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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This HCB is ready for the premier class

What a performance by the Foxes! After two defeats in a row, HCB Südtirol Alperia showed a fantastic reaction in the top game against Klagenfurter AC. Victory in the basic round should now only be a formality.

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