The Kölner Haie still won the 236th Rhenish ice hockey derby at the Düsseldorfer EG after a very late comeback.
The Cologne team prevailed 4:3 (0:0, 1:2, 2:1) after extra time and thus won the first meeting of the rivals this season in the German Ice Hockey League. The Haie thus avoided their fourth defeat in a row. DEG failed to get closer to the top positions.
In a hard-fought game, Jonathan Matsumoto put the visitors from Cologne ahead in the 25th minute in front of 13,102 spectators. Daniel Fischbuch (27′) equalized less later, Alec McCrea (33′) gave DEG a 2-1 lead in the sold-out arena after the second period.
In the final phase, events came to a head: Stephen Harper scored a minute before the end to make it supposedly decisive 3-1 for DEG in the empty Cologne goal (59th), but David McIntyre (60th) and Nicholas Baptiste, three seconds before the end of regular time to make it 3:3, forced extra time. There, after 63 seconds, Jason Bast was the match winner for the team of ex-national coach Uwe Krupp.
The DEL leaders Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven meanwhile suffered a small setback after six wins in a row. The surprise team of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) lost to the Straubing Tigers in a hard-fought game after extra time on Friday evening 4:5 (3:2, 1:2, 0:0, 0:1), but defended their lead with 35 points .
In the chasing duel, Red Bull Munich (33) kept ERC Ingolstadt at bay after a convincing performance. Coach Don Jackson’s team won mainly thanks to a strong first third 6:3 (5:0, 1:2, 0:1), pushed closer to Bremerhaven and at the same time ended the five-game winning streak of the Bavarian competitor.
The Adler Mannheim clearly beat the strong promoted Löwen Frankfurt 5:1 (2:1, 2:0, 1:0) and climbed past Ingolstadt to third place with 29 points.
The Schwenninger Wild Wings beat the Nuremberg Ice Tigers 5:2 (3:0, 1:2, 1:0), the Iserlohn Roosters beat the Grizzlys Wolfsburg 2:1 (2:1, 0:0, 0:0 ).