Everything is open again in the playoff semi-finals of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL): Red Bull Munich and ERC Ingolstadt have equalized in the best-of-seven series. With a 3:1 (0:1, 0:0, 3:0) at the Grizzlies Wolfsburg, main round winner Munich made it 2:2, Ingolstadt drew 1:0 (0:0, 1:0, 0: 0) at Adler Mannheim the same.
“It was tight the whole time. We had to be patient,” said Munich goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger at MagentaSport. Striker Justin Schütz said: “When it was 1-1, we thought the knot had burst. And that’s how it was. A small load fell down.”
For Wolfsburg, who had won twice in a row after their opening defeat in Munich, Darren Archibald scored the lead shortly before the end of the first third (19th). Benjamin Smith equalized after the second break (41′), a little later Konrad Abeltshauser (45′) put Munich ahead for the first time. Yasin Ehliz (60th) got the final score.
In the final phase, Munich survived two power plays by Wolfsburg, who took goalie Dustin Strahlmeier off the ice a good two and a half minutes before the end. But the measure backfired, Ehliz hit the empty goal.
In Mannheim, the fans saw an exciting duel, Leon Hüttl (21st) shot Ingolstadt to victory. The Eagles tried in vain to equalize and are now in the current playoffs with just one win in five home games.
Kevin Reich was completely satisfied after his first playoff shutout. “It was an incredible team effort. We wanted to set the tone from the start,” said the ERC keeper: “Now we’re coming home and we want to build on that.”
On Saturday, all four teams will fight for the first match puck to advance to the final. In Munich the game will be played at 3:15 p.m., in Ingolstadt at 6 p.m. (both MagentaSport).
Grizzlies Wolfsburg – Red Bull Munich 1: 3 (1: 0, 0: 0, 1: 2) – Goals: 1: 0 Archibald (19:27), 1: 1 Smith (40:30), 1: 2 Abeltshauser (44:25), 1: 3 Ehliz (59:43). – Penalty minutes: Wolfsburg 6 – Munich 8. – Spectators: 4503. – Play-off score: 2:2