The Adler Mannheim won the top game in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) and thus took the lead in the table. Coach Johan Lundskog’s team beat the previous leaders Kölner Haie 4:3 (2:2, 0:0, 2:1) on matchday 6 in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena and drew 15 points over their rivals (13th). ) over.
In an intense duel in front of 16,815 spectators, things went back and forth on the ice constantly. Alexandre Grenier gave the hosts the lead in the first period, Ryan MacInnis equalized, Andreas Thuresson gave Cologne the lead again, and two seconds before the first period break Kris Bennett equalized again.
After a goalless middle third, things got exciting in the last ten minutes. After a nice assist from new signing Gregor MacLeod, Justin Schütz scored to make it 3-2 for the Haie. But Mannheim turned the game around within 70 seconds. First Bennett made it 3-3, then the Canadian made everything clear with his third goal after 56:54 minutes.
Overall, the Haie had significantly more shots on goal over the course of the game, but they didn’t reward themselves. Mannheim’s keeper Felix Brückmann also had a good day with 26 saves. His counterpart Mirko Pantkowski had significantly less to do (16).