After a passionate fight, ERC Ingolstadt narrowly missed out on an upset in the quarter-finals of the Champions Hockey League.
The league leaders of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) were close to overtime in the second leg with a 2-2 (0-0, 2-1, 0-1) draw against Swedish CHL record winners Frölunda Göteborg, but it wasn’t enough to make it into the semi-finals for the first time after losing 3-1 in the first duel.
Leon Hüttl (32nd) and Abbott Girduckis (36th) turned the game in favor of the ERC, but the third goal needed for extra time was not scored despite great efforts. Coach Mark French’s team missed a power play shortly before the end.
The Swedes, who confidently lead the domestic league and only lost six of 35 games across all competitions, took the lead through Mads Kongsbak Klyvö (27th). When Ingolstadt took their goalie Nico Pertuch off the ice for another attacker, Max Lindholm scored 16 seconds before the end to make it 2-2.
The competition is entering its final phase without a German team. The Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven were eliminated in the round of 16, while the injury-plagued German champions Eisbären Berlin were already eliminated in the league phase. Only Red Bull Munich from Germany has made it to the semi-finals in the 2018/19 and 2021/22 seasons. Six years ago the EHC even made it to the final.