The crisis-ridden Düsseldorfer EG celebrated a surprise victory in the fight against relegation from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) and left last place in the table for the time being. Against the leaders ERC Ingolstadt, DEG turned around a deficit and won 4:1 (1:1, 1:0, 2:0).
After the early Ingolstadt goal by Morgan Ellis (4th), DEG was already reminded of the shooting festival at the beginning of December, when they were dispatched 7-1 in Bavaria. The guests were extremely dominant, had a lot of shots on goal, but remained too harmless and thus made a strong case for DEG goalie Haukeland.
Tyler Angle (19th) after a bad pass in the Ingolstadt backline and Tyler Gaudet (29th) on the counterattack turned the game in favor of the outsider after two thirds played. Drake Rymsha (45th) increased the score in the final third when he skated to the spot at the far post in an exemplary manner. The goal was briefly checked via video evidence, but the referee’s decision stood because there was no active kick movement.
A tailor-made start to the new year
Ingolstadt then pushed more and more towards Henrik Haukeland’s box, but remained too harmless. In addition, the Rhinelanders fought passionately on the defensive. Leaders Ingolstadt could therefore no longer avert their ninth defeat of the season. Rymsha again scored on the ERC’s empty goal (57′) to make the final decision. The start of the new year could hardly have gone better for DEG.
Thanks to their eighth win of the season and now 28 points, Steven Reinprecht’s team has overtaken the Augsburg Panthers, who can strike back on Friday against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers (7.30 p.m.).