The top trio of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) said goodbye to 2022 on Friday evening (December 30th, 2022) with victories.
Red Bull Munich consolidated their commanding lead with a 4-2 (1-0, 2-2, 1-0) win over the Grizzlies Wolfsburg. Chaser ERC Ingolstadt easily won 5:1 (1:0, 4:0, 0:1) against the Augsburg Panthers, Adler Mannheim also lost 4:1 (1:1, 1:0, 2:0) against bottom Bietigheim Steelers no feathers.
Important success for Dusseldorf
In the struggle for one of the six direct play-off places, the Düsseldorfer EG defeated the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven 3:1 (0:1, 1:0, 2:0) and moved up significantly to the table fourth from Northern Germany.
Patrick Joseph Alber (left) from Fischtown Pinguins in a duel with Paul Bittner from Düsseldorfer EG.
The champions Eisbären Berlin, which was in permanent crisis mode, could hardly capitalize on the defeats of the Steelers and Panthers, which were threatened with relegation. The Straubing Tigers lost 3:4 (2:1, 1:1, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1) after a penalty shootout and were only able to pull away slightly from the danger zone.
setback for the sharks
The recently up-and-coming Kölner Haie suffered another setback with the 2:4 (0:1, 1:1, 1:2) at the Nürnberg Ice Tigers. The Haie are eighth, closely followed by the Frankfurter Löwen. The promoted team celebrated their third win in a row with a 5:2 (4:0, 1:0, 0:2) against the Schwenninger Wild Wings.