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The Vienna Capitals (in the background) defeated HC Pustertal. © Manfred Szieber
In Vienna: HC Pustertal still owes a lot.
HC Falkensteiner Pustertal has had a strong regular season so far and is on track for direct qualification for the playoffs. However, on Friday evening, the Pustertal team suffered a deserved defeat in Vienna.
23 January 2026
From: dl
HC Pustertal lost 3-4 to the Vienna Capitals in Vienna-Kagran. The visitors only really showed their potential in the final period. Otherwise, Tommy Purdeller and his teammates, after four consecutive wins, failed to impress the large crowd of Pustertal fans on Friday in the Austrian capital, particularly in terms of offense.
Jakob Rabanser got his first chance in goal for HCP since December 5th. However, the 25-year-old was let down by his teammates, especially at the beginning of his seventh appearance of the season. Pustertal created very little offensively in the first two periods and allowed far too many shots on Rabanser's net. The former Sterzing player was certainly not the main culprit for the defeat. He only looked unlucky on the final goal.
Jakob Rabanser was in goal for HCP on Friday. © Manfred Szieber
For HC Pustertal, the defeat is no disaster – their season in the ICE Hockey League has been too successful so far. The Wolves remain in fifth place in the standings, and their 15-point lead over the pre-playoff spots is still substantial. A win on Saturday (5:30 p.m.) against Hydro Fehervar would not only allow the Black and Yellows to make amends but also further extend that gap.
The highlights
| Pustertal misses the start | Vienna came out firing in the opening minutes. The Caps deservedly took the lead after just under four minutes on the power play when Gregoire tapped in a beautiful pass at the far post. Only four minutes later, the Canadian beat Rabanser again – this time with a shot into the far corner. But Pustertal pulled one back seemingly out of nowhere midway through the first period: Ticar's first shot found the back of the net, though Caps goalie Cowley didn't cover himself in glory. |
| Not much is happening. | Anyone expecting a response from HCP in the second period was disappointed. The home team from Vienna continued to dictate the pace and took a 3-1 lead in the 35th minute through a shot by Nogier, during which Rabanser's view was obstructed. |
| What's going on here? | HCP started the second period looking completely different: After just one minute, top scorer Bowlby netted a breakaway goal to close the gap, before Ticar leveled the score at 3-3 just two minutes later with a powerful shot into the top corner. Midway through the final period, the Capitals regained the lead through Vey, the captain converting a rebound. Rabanser looked shaky for the first time on this occasion. Pustertal tried everything to mount a comeback, but Vienna held on to their lead until the final buzzer. |
In contrast to HC Pustertal, HC Bozen secured a victory on Friday. The Foxes defeated bottom-of-the-table HC Innsbruck 5-0 at home.
Vienna Capitals – HC Pustertal 4:3
Caps: Cowley (Wraneschitz); Bourque-Nogier, Hackl-Gazzola, Wolf-Lindner, Kirchschläger-Theirich; Kosmachuk-Vey-Peeters, Souch-Wallner-Franklin, Gregoire-Hults-Lanzinger, Antonitsch-Preiser-Kromp.Coach: Constantine
HCP: Rabanser (Pasquale); Lauridsen-Di Tomaso, Osmanki-Blum, Glira-Almquist; Ierullo-Ticar-Purdeller, Saracino-Rueschoff-Lipon, Bowlby-Frycklund-Lobis, Mantinger-Andergassen-Deluca.
Coach: Jaspers
Gates: 1:0 Gregoire (03.50), 2:0 Gregoire (08.06), 2:1 Ticar (10.12), 3:1 Nogier (35.39), 3:2 Bowlby (41.12), 3:3 Ticar (43.28), 4:3 Vey (49.09)
Viewers: 5.640
ICE: The other games
Graz99ers – Red Bull Salzburg 2:40:1 Michael Raffl (20.31), 1:1 Schiechl (27.27), 2:1 Bailen (29.59), 2:2 St. Denis (45.00), 2:3 Baltram (51.38), 2:4 St. Denis (59.10)
Audience: 4.126
Villacher SV – Black Wings Linz 6:2
1:0 Maxa (02.41), 1:1 Lebler (03.00), 2:1 Hughes (03.23), 3:1 Hutchison (10.23), 4:1 Helewka (41.13), 4:2 Oschgan (50.32), 5:2 van Nes (57.00), 6:2 Lindner (59.52)
Audience: 3.328
Hydro Fehervar – Olimpia Ljubljana 3:4
0:1 Polei (03.10), 1:1 Kuralt (08.21), 1:2 Sabolic (13.27), 1:3 Brennan (18.38), 1:4 Mahkovec (29.52), 2:4 Gerlach (45.11), 3:4 Kuralt (57.07)
Audience: 3.525
Pioneers Vorarlberg – EC KAC 4:5
0:1 From (08:25), 1:1 Florchuk (16:57), 1:2 Mursak (20:53), 2:2 Bukarts (27:35), 3:2 Allen (30:01), 3:3 Herburger (40:33), 3:4 Hochegger (44:34), 4:4 Böhm (46:10), 4:5 Petersen (47:18)
Audience: 1.585
HC Bozen – HC Innsbruck 5:0 (click here for the report)
1:0 Misley (12.48), 2:0 Gazley (27.04), 3:0 Schneider (30.55), 4:0 Gazley (35.14), 5:0 Gersich (58.04)
Spectators: 3.310
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. EC Klagenfurt | 40 | 28 | 0 | 12 | 141:97 | 85 |
| 2. Graz99ers | 39 | 26 | 0 | 13 | 127:84 | 78 |
| 3. EC Salzburg | 41 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 139:88 | 78 |
| 4. HCB South Tyrol | 40 | 25 | 0 | 15 | 146:104 | 77 |
| 5. HC Pustertal | 39 | 23 | 0 | 16 | 136:105 | 69 |
| 6. Olimpija Ljubljana | 39 | 24 | 0 | 15 | 143:109 | 68 |
| 7. Fehervar | 40 | 17 | 0 | 23 | 96:126 | 54 |
| 8. Vienna Capitals | 39 | 17 | 0 | 22 | 98:117 | 52 |
| 9. Ferencvarosi | 40 | 15 | 0 | 25 | 106:142 | 50 |
| 10. EC Villach | 38 | 16 | 0 | 22 | 119:129 | 49 |
| 11. Linz | 40 | 18 | 0 | 22 | 125:133 | 49 |
| 12. Vorarlberg | 38 | 12 | 0 | 26 | 93:151 | 36 |
| 13. HC Innsbruck | 41 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 98:182 | 26 |
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