With another win, the Eisbären Berlin consolidate their lead in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
On Friday evening, the German champions won 3:1 (1:0.2:0.0:1) against the pursuers Grizzlies Wolfsburg. Zach Boychuk, Simon Després and Johan Södergran were successful for the Berliners.
In front of 8,500 spectators in the arena at Ostbahnhof, polar bear trainer Serge Aubin was able to count on three returnees after the corona quarantine. Mathias Niederberger took his usual position in goal, Marcel Noebels ran up in the front row. Also, Mark Zengerle was back on the ice.
However, the guests from Lower Saxony were not impressed by this and produced the first shot on goal after just a few seconds. However, it was the Berliners who took the upper hand after a short sampling phase in the first third and placed the puck in the net. In the ninth minute of the game, Zack Boychuk pushed in to make it 1-0 after preparatory work by Dominik Bokk.
In the middle section, Niederberger was repeatedly challenged between the posts by good shots from Wolfsburg, but the goalie kept his teammates free. Even three manpower situations didn’t change that. On the contrary, in the 35th minute Kevin Clark made it 2-0 before Johan Södergran scored his first goal in the DEL two minutes later.
Wolfsburg meanwhile tried to increase the pressure again in the final third. Visiting coach Mike Stewart drew goalkeeper Chet Pickard and in the 59th minute Tyler Gaudet scored for the Grizzlies to make it 3-1. The victory of the polar bears remained unchallenged.