Under intense pressure, a clear response: Juniors secure a 9-2 statement win ...

Friday, 20. March 2026 |

AlpsHL | VF 5 | RBJ vs GHE

Under intense pressure, a clear response: Juniors secure a 9-2 statement win against Val GardenaThe Red Bull Hockey Juniors have tied the series at 2-3; Game 6 is on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. in Val Gardena// JuniorsThe Red Bull Hockey Juniors defeated HC Gherdeina 9-2 in Game 5 of the Alps Hockey League playoff quarterfinals, narrowing the series deficit to 2-3.

After a strong first period, the Juniors led 4–1; in the second period, each team scored one goal. In the final period, the Salzburg team added four more goals, including an empty-net goal while shorthanded and two power-play goals.

Next Game Alps Hockey League | Playoff Quarterfinals | Game 6 HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – Red Bull Hockey Juniors Sun., Mar. 22, 2026 | 8:30 p.m. | Wolkenstein in Val Gardena, Italy Livestream

Game Summary The Juniors started at a fast pace and had good scoring chances early on, but Jesse Juhola (1st) and Adrian Gesson (2nd) couldn’t put the puck in the net. After killing off a penalty, Maximilian Wurzer scored the 1-0 goal (9th) on a two-on-one breakaway following a pass from Paul Schuster. 53 seconds later (10th), Nikita Bloch extended the lead to 2-0 after a screen by Benedikt Krainer. Maxim Eliseev made it 3-0 (11th) off a pass from Luca Auer, and Moritz Warnecke increased the lead to 4-0 (13th) after an assist from Fabian Baumann. Val Gardena fought back on a counterattack; Davide Schiavone set up Sacha Guimond, who narrowed the gap to 4-1 (16th), and Dmitry Vozovik then hit the crossbar (18th).

In the second period, Paul Schuster extended the lead to 5–1 (22nd minute) following a give-and-go with Maximilian Wurzer. Val Gardena kept the pressure on and cut the deficit to 5–2 (32nd minute) when Vlastimil Dostalek converted the rebound off a shot by Tobias Brighenti. The Juniors then had their first power play and, shortly after, a two-man advantage, but failed to capitalize on these opportunities. The score remained 5-2 heading into the second intermission.

In the final period, Paul Oberhauser scored the 6-2 goal (43rd minute) off a pass from Adrian Gesson, after which Matthias Rindone took over in goal for Val Gardena. In the 45th minute, the Juniors had to survive a five-minute penalty kill; Val Gardena pulled their goalie for a sixth skater on several occasions, but Luca Haitzmann kept a clean sheet. Jesse Juhola scored into the empty net while shorthanded to make it 7-2 (48th minute). On the power play, Adrian Gesson extended the lead to 8-2 (56th minute) after a pass from Luca Kogler, before Maximilian Wurzer also scored on the power play to seal the victory at 9-2 (59th minute).

Statement by Paul Schuster

“I think we got off to a great start today. Scoring four goals in the first period was obviously extremely important—that hadn’t happened in the previous games of the series. Today we consistently did the simple things: we got in front of the net, got the pucks on goal, and were rewarded for it. Of course, a win like this gives us a huge boost within the team. The mood is good, and I believe we can carry this momentum into Sunday and, hopefully, the rest of the series. We knew there was a lot of pressure on us today because we couldn’t afford another loss. I think that’s exactly what sparked something in us. We focused on the basics and executed them much better today than in the previous games.” Alps Hockey League | Playoff Quarterfinals | Game 5 Red Bull Hockey Juniors – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 9:2 (4:1, 1:1, 4:0)

Goals 1:0 | 08:50 | Maximilian Wurzer 2:0 | 09:43 | Nikita Bloch 3:0 | 10:33 | Maxim Eliseev 4:0 | 12:44 | Moritz Warnecke 4:1 | 15:37 | Sacha Guimond 5:1 | 21:48 | Paul Schuster 5:2 | 31:01 | Vlastimil Dostalek 6:2 | 42:08 | Paul Oberhauser 7:2 | 47:24 | Jesse Juhola | SH | EN 8:2 | 55:48 | Adrian Gesson | PP 9:2 | 58:50 | Maximilian Wurzer | PP

*if necessary

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