The Kölner Haie celebrated a convincing away win in the DEL thanks to a lightning start against the Dresdner Eislöwen.
The KEC won the game on matchday 11 on Thursday evening in Dresden 5:2 (3:0, 1:2, 1:0) and celebrated their third win in a row after home wins against Ingolstadt (4:3) and Iserlohn (3:1). Dominik Bokk (1st), Veli-Matti Vittasmäki (9th), Valteri Kemiläinen (16th) and Parker Tuomie (23rd) put the Haie on the winning track early on. Sebastian Grocik (34th) and Austin Ortega (36th) temporarily shortened the game for the Ice Lions. Ryan MacInnis made the final score (51st).
The Haie moved up to third place in the table, at least temporarily. Newly promoted Dresden, on the other hand, lost its eighth game in a row and remains bottom of the table.
Bokk with the lightning start for the sharks
The Sharks got off to a lightning start and took the lead after just 43 seconds. Bokk deflected a shot from Vittasmäki in front of the goal. The puck slipped through the legs of ex-Haie goalie Julius Hudacek and Bokk pushed the puck into the goal in the follow-up shot (1st). For Bokk it was the second goal in the second game.
And that’s how it went on. In the ninth minute, Tuomie showed clarity and played a precise cross pass to Vittasmäki in the faceoff circle. The Finn hit the far corner with a wrist shot to make it 2-0 (9th).
The KEC was clearly the better team in the first third and even went one better in the 16th minute with the advantage. Kemiläinen got a one-timer in the power play at the left face-off circle and hit the short corner – 3-0 for the team of outgoing head coach Kari Jalonen.
Ice lions come back with a double whammy
The Ice Lions were looking for redemption in the middle third and initially set the tone. CJ Suess was already celebrating, but only hit the crossbar (21st). But just two minutes later, Dresden ran into a Cologne counterattack, which Tuomie coolly completed to make it 4-0 from Cologne’s perspective.
But: The newcomer showed morale and kept trying. In the 30th minute, Trevor Parkes was denied in front of the goal by Haie goalie Tobias Ancicka, who was replacing Felix Brückmann, who had a knee injury.
A little later, the hosts rewarded themselves for their efforts and got back into the game with a double strike. First Ancicka couldn’t control a puck, which Grocik took advantage of to make it 1:4 (34′). Then Ortega gave the Cologne goalkeeper no chance after a pass from Justin Braun (36th).
MacInnis hits the corner dry
The game was not yet decided and the Ice Lions entered the final third with momentum. It was now going back and forth happily. The Ice Lions wanted the connection, the Sharks wanted the decision. However, the Haie let a power play pass in the middle of the third without any real conclusion.
But then the sharks, in the person of MacInnis, showed themselves to be humorless. A goal wasn’t really in the air until Bokk passed it to MacInnis and he hit the far corner from a tight angle to make it 5-2 (51′).
It was an effective goal, because after that the game just plodded along. The ice lions’ resistance was broken. The Haie didn’t invest too much in the offensive and celebrated a deserved away win in the end.
The Haie continue next Sunday (4:30 p.m.) with a home game against the Straubing Tigers. The Dresden Ice Lions travel to EHC Munich on the same day (7 p.m.).
