Adler Mannheim has continued its impressive series in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) and remains the undisputed leader. The eight-time champions celebrated their eighth win in the ninth game of the season with a 6:3 win over their pursuers Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven on Friday evening – the Eagles only lost one, and that after extra time.
Even without the injured Tom Kühnhackl, the Mannheim offensive got going after falling behind early on thanks to Justin Büsing (6th). Anthony Greco (8th), Zachary Solow (17th) and Kris Bennett (26th) turned the game around, Christian Wejse (27th) led the hosts back. Justin Schütz (29th) scored again for Mannheim, Ross Mauerman (36th) for Bremerhaven – it went wild back and forth. John Gilmour’s power-play goal (44th) brought the preliminary decision, Nicolas Mattinen (58th) scored into the empty goal for the final score.
Defending champions Eisbären Berlin are still a long way from the Mannheim realm, but are slowly recovering. The 3:2 after a penalty shootout at the Löwen Frankfurt was the third win in a row, the Eisbären improved to 14 points (Mannheim: 25).
The Straubing Tigers are second in the table with 21 points after a hard-fought 1-0 win against the Schwenninger Wild Wings, Filip Varejcka (58th) scored the late winning goal. The Grizzlys Wolfsburg (16) lost 1:2 to the Augsburg Panthers after extra time, the Kölner Haie (15) won against ERC Ingolstadt 4:3.
The four-time champions Red Bull Munich (12) took a first step out of the crisis after their major false start on Thursday. After four defeats in the last five games, the Munich team won 3-2 against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers.
Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven – Adler Mannheim 3:6 (1:2, 2:2, 0:2). – Goals: 1:0 Büsing (05:13), 1:1 Greco (07:48), 1:2 Solow (16:32), 1:3 Bennett (25:47), 2:3 Wejse (26:55), 2:4 Schütz (29:25), 3:4 Mauerman (35:13), 3:5 Gilmour (43:50), 3:6 Mattinen (57:30). – Penalty minutes: Bremerhaven 4 – Mannheim 6. – Spectators: 4746