The Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven missed their return to the top of the table in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
The North Germans suffered their first defeat after five victories in a 2:3 (2:1, 0:0, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1) after a penalty shootout at ERC Ingolstadt. Bremerhaven now has 99 points like league leaders Eisbären Berlin, but has a slightly worse goal difference. The two of them will win the main round between themselves.
Meanwhile, the Lions Frankfurt missed a big step towards staying in the league. The Hessians lost 4:5 (1:3, 2:2, 1:0) in a high-scoring game against Red Bull Munich and remain twelfth in the table.
Bottom team Augsburger Panther has collected five points less, but still has a game in hand. Munich consolidated its fifth place in the table and could climb further with three main round games remaining.
Fischtown was on course for a long time in Ingolstadt, but conceded 2-2 to Casey Bailey with 57 seconds left. The Bremerhaven shooters were unsuccessful in the penalty shootout, Brandon Kozun and Daniel Pietta scored for the ERC.