For the first time, the Dresden Ice Lions were on the verge of annoying a really big heavyweight in German ice hockey. At the Adler Mannheim, the Saxons missed the equalizer in the last minute. Overall, it was a strong performance, which is encouraging that the newcomer has now understood what makes the DEL tick and how success can be achieved.
Coach Niklas Sundblad’s team initially had major problems with the hosts’ fast and aggressive forechecking. Matthias Plachta moved inwards from the right boards twice, hitting it once into the long corner (8th) and once into the short corner (16th). The 2-0 was actually too low and Dresden was lucky to make it 1-2 (19th). Lance Bouma also made a long arc towards the goal on the plexiglass, while Austin Ortega made the connection in the center.
Matthias Plachta hit the net to make it 1-0 (8th) for Mannheim.
Dresden turns up the heat after the first break
In the second third the situation changed little by little. Goalie Janick Schwendener initially kept Dresden in with several saves. But after almost half an hour, the bottom team suddenly surprisingly took over the reins.
Travis Turnbull (28th) had the first giant to make it 2-2, got the puck, but didn’t put it in the box. Then it was again Ortega (31′) and again Turnbull (38′) after the visitors’ best move, who zig-zagged the Eagles apart. In the meantime, the Eislöwen had more shots in the middle section against the heavy favorites – a remarkable improvement in performance against such a top team.
Goalie Schwendener with outstanding reflexes
Although Mannheim increased the tempo again in the final third, Dresden could not be put off. The Swiss wizard in goal, Janick Schwendener, also made sensational saves against Plachta (42nd) and Maximilian Heim (52nd).
The Ice Lions kept the game surprisingly open and had good share of the game. When there was a majority four minutes before the end, the equalizer felt like it was already in the air. But in the first and only power play of the day it didn’t work.
Turnbull misses mega chance in the last minute
So Schwendener went off the ice and the sixth skater came in. The guests waited with a lot of patience for the mega opportunity. And there it was: Travis Turnbull hand-stopped a rebound in front of the empty box with 30 seconds left. But the oldie had to adjust the puck again because of the acute angle and that didn’t happen quickly enough. Mannheim intervened and shortly thereafter Kristian Reichel scored the decisive goal with an empty net goal to make the final score 3-1.
Here the Ice Lions celebrated the 1:2 goal from Ortega (3rd from right).
Conclusion: It was an incredibly bitter game for the league newcomer, but the development is still right. In addition, relegation rival Iserlohn lost 3-0 in Frankfurt.
This means that the saving penultimate place is only two points away. If the Eislöwen can stabilize these performances, everything should be possible, especially in the next two home games against Wolfsburg on Sunday (6 p.m.) and in the summit for relegation against Iserlohn on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).
