The Eisbären Berlin crisis in the DEL has no mercy at the start of 2026. The injury-plagued Berliners lost their first game of the new year 2-3 on Friday evening against the Löwen Frankfurt.
The Polar Bears Berlin can’t breathe deeply even in the new year. On Friday evening, the reigning German champions lost their first game after the turn of the year against the Löwen Frankfurt 2:3 (1:0, 0:2, 1:1). The Eisbären have now lost six of their last seven games due to the defeat against the second-to-bottom team in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
Eisbären fans cheer at the start
The mood in the Berlin Arena at Ostbahnhof was still good before the first game of the year. On the one hand, because former Eisbären player, coach and manager Peter John Lee was congratulated on his 70th birthday on the ice. On the other hand, because the supporters of the Eisbären and the fans of the Frankfurter Löwen share a fan friendship. Both camps are united above all by their antipathy towards the Mannheim Adler.
The first ecstatic cheers on Friday belonged to the host fans. Less than three minutes had been played when Matej Leden gave the Eisbären a 1-0 lead. After good preparatory work by Andreas Eder, it was Eric Mik who fired the puck in front of the Hessian goal. There, Leden just had to hold out his bat to earn his second goal of the season.
Jake Hildebrand holds Polar bear tour fixed (for now).
As a result, however, the home team failed to really take control of the game and shape it in their favor. Once again, the Berliners’ bad luck with injuries became noticeable on Friday. The fact that, in addition to captain Kai Wissmann and top attacker Ty Ronning, Manuel Wiederer and Markus Vikingstad are also missing, this was one reason why the Eisbären also struggled against Frankfurt.
Jake Hildebrand was the focus of attention in the Eisbären goal in the first third. Particularly towards the end of the game, Hildebrand’s front men increasingly left Frankfurt too much space and put their goalkeeper in trouble. However, Hildebrand always managed to free himself from this by defusing one Hessian chance after another.
Frankfurt turns the game around
A good five minutes had been played in the second third when Hildebrand could no longer help the Eisbären. First it was Maksim Matushkin who, completely alone, scored the 1-1 equalizer (26th minute). But that wasn’t enough, from the point of view of the polar bears and their fans, who have recently suffered in many ways.
Exactly 21 seconds after the equalizer, Jonas Müller received a two-minute penalty for interference. Another 71 seconds later, the Lions punished this coldly. Daniel Pfaffengut scored to make it 2-1 for the guests. Within less than two minutes the game was turned around and the polar bears were behind. A circumstance that remained unchanged at the end of the second third.
In the final section, the polar bears once again defended themselves to the best of their ability – and even rewarded themselves for this at times. In the 48th minute it was Liam Kirk who scored to make it 2-2 and let the Eisbären fans dream once again of an opening win in the new year. However, the Frankfurt team proved stubborn in their role as game spoilers and victory spoilers. Jakob Lilja scored the 3-2 winning goal for the Lions less than two minutes after the equalizer.
Broadcast: rbb|24, January 2nd, 2026, 9:55 p.m
