The Eisbären Berlin botched the start of the playoffs in the DEL. On Tuesday evening in Straubing they were already 0-3 behind after 116 seconds and ultimately suffered a clear defeat.
The Polar Bears Berlin have to cope with a very poor start to the playoffs in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). At the Straubing Tigers on Tuesday evening, the Berliners lost game one of their best-of-seven series with a deserved score of 1:5 (0:3; 0:1; 1:1). Coach Serge Aubin’s team was 3-0 down less than two minutes into the game. As a result, the Berliners had largely no chance.
Straubing catches the polar bears on the wrong foot
The Eisbären had various problems of very different kinds early on Tuesday in Straubing. After the Berliners had been stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the hall, everything suddenly happened much too quickly for them when the game started. The scoreboard had not yet ticked down a minute when the Straubing ice rink at the Pulverturm exploded for the first time.
The Eisbären goalie was able to fend off a first shot from Tim Fleischer, but he was powerless when the Straubingers made a follow-up shot. After exactly 44 seconds, the hosts, who have never won a playoff series against the Eisbären, led 1-0. Anyone who thought that the early deficit would serve as a kind of wake-up call for the polar bears was very wrong.
The Berliners, who had won all of their final five main round games, were in a collective deep sleep in Straubing. The result: Another 43 seconds after Straubing’s opening goal, Tyler Madden increased the lead to 2-0 after a nice one-two. The Eisbären had no access to the game offensively or defensively, made mistake after mistake and were punished coldly by Straubing.
0:3 deficit after 116 seconds
The maximum penalty came again 28 seconds later: A Straubinger shot bounced off the boards behind the goal and bounced back exactly to Tim Brunnhuber, who just had to push the puck into the goal. After exactly 116 seconds, Straubing led 3-0. In the stands, half-incredulous, half-ecstatic Straubingers belted out their anthem “Blue and White for a Lifetime” for the third time. On the Eisbären bench, coach Aubin mistreated his chewing gum in consternation.
Above all, the Canadians were probably horrified by the almost zero speed of action of his protégés. On Tuesday evening it became a disastrous polar bear problem on several levels. The Tigers from Straubing were already in the playoffs, the Eisbären from Berlin were not. After the Eisbären conceded the fastest 0-3 deficit in DEL playoff history in the first third, they also took a fateful nap at the start of the second and third periods.
Less than three minutes passed in the second third until Danjo Leonhardt made it 4-0 for the hosts after good forechecking (23rd minute). In the final third it only took 70 seconds for Straubinger to make it 5-0. In the neutral zone, Straubing’s Tyler Madden captured the puck, which Nick Halloran then placed in the Eisbären goal.
Yannick Veilleux in a fist fight with Adrian Klein | Image: IMAGO/Hockeypics/Eva Fuchs
Power play problems continue
What was particularly worrying was not only the number and origin of the goals conceded, but also what happened between them. The Berliners could have lost their playoff opener even more. After the last five wins, the Berliners, who continue to have to do without a few injured players, fell into their pattern of worse phases of the season.
This also included their harmless power play. The worst outnumbered team in the entire DEL didn’t know what to do with it on Tuesday either. The same applied to several two- and three-on-one situations, which the Berliners played poorly time and time again. The only Eisbären goal of the evening by Kai Wissmann in the 55th minute was more of a deflected coincidence.
The Eisbären scored their only real effective goal in the middle of the first third: After the two teams had already come together for a group cuddle with flying fists, Yannick Veilleux knocked down Adrian Klein from Straubing. Overall, the game on Tuesday was very intense and physical.
Game two takes place on Friday
This is unlikely to change in the remaining games that are still to come. The polar bears have the chance to make amends next Friday (7:30 p.m.). Then they welcome the Tigers in the home arena at Ostbahnhof, at least the manner of the defeat in game one no longer plays a role.
Broadcast: rbb|24, March 24, 2026, 9:55 p.m
