The Eisbären Berlin have won the seventh Winter Game in DEL history. In front of an impressive backdrop, the reigning German champions beat the Eislöwen 3-2 in overtime in Dresden on Saturday evening.
- Seventh edition of the DEL Winter Game
- Eisbären equalize twice in regular time
- Liam Kirk scores the winning goal 3-2 in extra time
The Polar Bears Berlin have returned to the race for the play-off places in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL): On Saturday evening they won the seventh winter game in DEL history against the Dresdner Eislöwen 3:2 (0:0, 1:1, 1:1, 1:0) after overtime.
In front of around 32,000 spectators in the sold-out Rudolf Harbig Stadium in Dresden, Liam Kirk scored the decisive goal for the reigning German champions.
Before the start of the game, the around 10,000 loud Berlin fans who traveled along showed a choreo with the logo that the Eisbären wore between 1992 and 2000 – and that evening also on the special jerseys for this winter game.
Polar bears first game-determining
The first chance of the game went to Dresden, but Eisbären goalie Jake Hildebrand was there (2nd minute). Just a few seconds later, the Berliners had the advantage for the first time in this encounter after Tomáš Andres was given a two-minute penalty for holding. Janick Schwendener in the Ice Lions’ goal prevented them from falling behind several times, and the Berliners’ power play had no result.
The Eisbären continued to be the team that dominated the game, while Dresden primarily set offensive accents through the counterattack. Towards the end of the first third the game became more and more open. Yannick Veilleux missed a great opportunity to make it 1-0 for the Eisbären (16th); On the other side, Alec McCrea was denied by Hildebrand (18th). After 20 minutes the score remained 0-0.
Andres puts Dresden in the lead – Kirk counters
At the start of the second period, Dresden increased the pressure – and promptly took the lead. Andres put the puck in the goal with his second attempt and scored his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 for the promoted team (25th). The Eisbären, on the other hand, were unable to capitalize on their third power play of the evening and continued to bite their teeth against the Eislöwen defense around goalie Schwendener.
But in the 34th minute, the Polar Bears celebrated: Liam Kirk scored in the ninth game in a row, setting the club record and equalizing with his 27th goal of the season. The Berliners stayed on the trigger, but the score remained 1-1 until the end of the second third.
Wild final phase – Kirk has the last word in overtime
In the third third, the Berliners pushed for the winning goal, but the usual picture didn’t change at first: The Ice Lions defended themselves with combined strength – and, above all, were able to thank their goalkeeper again and again for keeping them in this game.
In the final phase, the Dresden team shocked the reigning German champions again: The Eisbären lacked any order in defense and Alec McCrea made it 2-1 (54th). But Berlin again had the right answer: Kirk was denied by Schwendener, but Ty Ronning sank the follow-up shot into the goal to make it 2-2 (59′). The game went into overtime.
And in overtime, Kirk needed just 14 seconds to shoot the Eisbären to victory and set the final point in this winter game.
Broadcast: rbb|24, January 10, 2026, 7:35 p.m
