The Kölner Haie are back on the road to success. The KEC celebrated a spectacular last-minute victory against Adler Mannheim.
Brady Austin scored the 5:4 winning goal for the Sharks (1:2, 3:1, 1:1) in the last minute of the game. Ryan MacInnis (15th), Parker Tuomie (23rd), Juhani Tyrväinen (25th) and Patrick Russel scored the other goals for the home team. Dan Renouf (7th), Kris Bennett (14th/44th) and Nicolas Mattinen scored for the Adler, who lost their league lead to ERC Ingolstadt as a result of the defeat
The Haie, on the other hand, consolidated third place and returned to success after the defeat in Munich. It was the KEC’s seventh win from the last eight games.
Mannheim quickly leads 2-0
The guests from Mannheim got off to a better start in the game. After less than two minutes, John Gilmour hammered the puck onto the Cologne post. Renouff aimed a bit better in the seventh minute, taking the Eagles’ deserved lead after a pass from Alexander Ehl. The Haie then survived being outnumbered unscathed, but still had to accept the 0-2 defeat in the 14th minute. Goalie Janne Javonen slipped the puck through the pads, Bennett switched gears quickest and pushed the puck over the line from just a few centimeters.
The Sharks looked for solutions, then MacInnis simply tried force. Just one minute after the 0:2, the Cologne player hammered the puck into the goal with a wrist shot after a pass from Robin van Calster to make it 1:2 (15th). The Haie started again, but still went into the first third break with a narrow deficit.
Fast-paced middle third
However, it didn’t take long in the middle third before the KEC equalized. Three minutes had been played when Tuomie completed a counterattack to make it 2-2 (23′). And things got even better for the Sharks. Just two minutes later, Tyrväinen took a 3-2 lead after a shot from Veli-Matti Vittasmäki (25′).
Things happened quickly in the sold-out Cologne Arena, because just two minutes later the Eagles were back. Mattinen fired the puck from the right faceoff circle to make it 3:3 under the crossbar on the top left (27th).
After these fast-paced minutes, both teams took a short break. Three minutes before the end of the third, the efficient Sharks struck a fourth time with the advantage. Louis-Marc Aubry passed it to Russell and the striker scored his tenth power play goal with a one-timer, giving the KEC the lead before the final third.
Austin scores to give the Sharks a win
But as it should be in this game, the Sharks didn’t have to be happy for too long. Because just four minutes after the restart, Mannheim equalized again. The guests forced the puck through aggressive forechecking, Yannick Proske put the puck in the slot and Bennett scored his second goal of the day to make it 4-4 (44′).
However, the Sharks were unimpressed and continued to run, but were unable to take advantage of their superiority. On the other hand, the Cologne team also held themselves harmless when they were outnumbered. This led to an exciting final phase in which anything seemed possible. There were chances on both sides, but the Sharks had the better end. The KEC forced the puck on the left side in the last minute, Austin simply shot from a tight angle and hit it under the crossbar on the left to make it 5:4 (60th).
Mannheim tried again with an extra player in the last seconds, but in the end Cologne celebrated after a spectacular game. Things continue for the Sharks on Thursday. Then the Rhinelanders will host the Grizzlys Wolfsburg from 7.30 p.m.
Roosters are subject to Ingolstadt
They suffered a defeat Iserlohn Roosters. The Sauerlanders lost 2:4 (1:2, 0:0, 1:2) away to the new league leaders from Ingolstadt and remain second to last in the table. Daniel Neumann (15th) and Anthony Camara (59th) scored for Iserlohn. The Ingolstadt goals were scored by Kenny Agostino (4th), Luca Hauf (14th), Austen Keating (51st) and Daniel Pietta (60th).
Iserlohn has a day longer break. They won’t be challenged again until Friday (7:30 p.m.) – against today’s Cologne opponents Adler Mannheim.
Our sources:
- DEL game between Cologne and Mannheim on December 14th, 2025
Broadcast: WDR.de“Cologne sharks win late against Manneheim”, December 14, 2025, 7:25 p.m
