Starting position
Fourth against first – Sunday's match between the Red Bulls and Pustertal is the next top match in the league. While the South Tyroleans want to defend their first place in the table, Salzburg want to get there. With a win in regular time, meaning three points, and some help from Budapest in their home game against Bolzano, the Red Bulls could actually take the lead on Sunday, as the gap to the Pustertalers (with a different number of games played) is only two points.
The Red Bulls gained new confidence with yesterday's 7-2 home win against Budapest and also enjoyed a good conversion rate, which has cost them several points in recent rounds. Apart from that, the team's performance in recent matches has also been groundbreaking, and now, following their victories against Innsbruck (last Sunday) and Budapest, the Red Bulls are looking to win against the league leaders, who won their first meeting with Salzburg 2-1 in Bruneck a month ago. In addition to the four convalescent players Peter Hochkofler, Philipp Wimmer, Ali Wukovits, and Devante Stephens, the Red Bulls will also be without Lukas Schreier, who sustained a lower-body injury yesterday.
HC Pustertal, on the other hand, is currently experiencing a real boom, not only climbing to the top of the standings with yesterday's 4-3 overtime victory against Villach, but also winning six of their last seven games. Their top scorers, Cole Bardreau (8 goals, 11 assists), Henry Bowlby (10 assists, 5 assists), and former Red Bull Ice Hockey Academy forward Tommy Purdeller (5 assists, 2 assists), are primarily responsible for this, having scored more than half of Pustertal's 42 goals.
