In their last outing before the Winter Game of the German Ice Hockey League, the Adler Mannheim clinched an away win despite conceding a late goal and reduced the gap to the top.
The title candidate won at newly promoted Löwen Frankfurt 4:3 (1:1, 1:0, 1:2, 0:0, 1:0) after a penalty shootout, leaving Mannheim just five points behind leaders Red Bull Munich.
The Adler, who will play against the Kölner Haie in the open air in the soccer stadium of the Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln on Saturday (4:30 p.m. / ServusTV and MagentaSport), led two minutes before the end of regular time after goals from Matthias Plachta (20. /44.) and Nigel Dawes (27.) 3: 1, David Elsner gave Frankfurt an early lead (9.).
But Chad Nehring (59th) and Jerry D’Amigo (60th) forced the overtime. In the penalty shootout, Dawes made the decision. Mannheim got his third DEL victory in a row in the derby.
DEG continues low flight
The Düsseldorfer EG lost the duel of the table neighbors against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers 2:4 (1:1, 1:0, 0:3) and had to let the Franks pass after the third bankruptcy in a row.
ERC Ingolstadt beat the Grizzlies Wolfsburg 3:2 (0:1, 1:1, 1:0, 0:0, 1:0) after a penalty shootout.