Man of the Match: © Manuel Mackinger - EC Red Bull Salzburg

Tough wolves snatch a point from the champions

Sunday afternoon was a truly dramatic day, not only for the ice hockey fans watching the Olympic final, but also for those attending the game between Red Bull Salzburg and HC Falkensteiner Pustertal. The latter ended in a narrow but well-deserved victory for the home team.

February 22, 2026

From: leo

2-1 in September, 5-3 in October, and 4-1 in January: This statistic may sound absurd, but it's true. HC Pustertal had won all three of their first matches against the dominant team of recent years – and thus started the fourth encounter with a perfect record. Although the Wolves impressed for much of Sunday afternoon's game, Salzburg ultimately emerged victorious. The 2-1 overtime win wasn't secured until two and a half hours had passed because the ice technicians had to intervene after a glass broke.

Jason Jaspers' team had conceded the opening goal after just 21 seconds against Fehervar on Friday. The Wolves were determined to avoid such a disastrous start 48 hours later. Raphael Andergassen and his teammates succeeded in this endeavor, not conceding an early goal, but scoring one themselves – through Austin Rueschhoff after 81 seconds.

Pustertal and Salzburg engaged in a hard-fought battle. © EC Red Bull Salzburg / Manuel Mackinger - EC Red Bull Salzburg

The game then developed into one in which Salzburg had the clearer scoring opportunities, largely due to the numerous penalties against HCP. The Bulls, however, displayed significant weaknesses on the power play, which is hardly surprising. With a success rate of just 15,6 percent, they rank third from last in the league in this category. The fact that Thomas Raffl and his teammates struggled so much to score that evening was also due to Pustertal's goalie, Eddie Pasquale, who repeatedly made outstanding saves. However, even the Canadian's superb performance couldn't prevent the defeat.

Was that a punishment?

A bitter pill to swallow: The decisive overtime goal was preceded by a controversial play in which Tommy Purdeller was brought down. Despite this disappointment, Matthias Mantinger and his teammates can take many positives from the game, as they put up a strong fight against the Bulls throughout. HCP's next game is on Wednesday when they travel to face the Pioneers Vorarlberg (7:30 p.m.).

Red Bull Salzburg – HC Pustertal 2:1 OT

RBS: Tolvanen (Kickert); Robertson-Corcoran, Nienhuis-Krygier, Stephens-Baumann, Rebernig; Thomas Raffl-Nissner-Schneider, Michael Raffl-St. Denis-Coe, Thaler-Baltram-Bourke, Kraus-Wukovits-Huber, Schreier.
coach: nurseries

HCP: Pasquale (Rabanser); Blum-Almquist, Lauridsen-DiTomaso, Zanatta-Osmanski, Glira; Lobis-Bardreau-Lipon, Saracino-Frycklund-Ierullo, Bowlby-Rueschhoff-Purdeller, Mantinger-Andergassen-Deluca.
Trainer: Jasper

Gates: 0:1 Rueschhoff (1.21), 1:1 Krygier (44.46), 2:1 St-Denis (60.49)

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