Marco Nowak and Alex Friesen from the Fischtown Pinguins in a duel on the boards Photo: picture alliance / Eibner-Presse
From BZ/dpa
The Eisbären Berlin have again suffered a setback in the race for the playoff places in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). On Tuesday evening, the German champions lost 2:3 (0:1, 2:1, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1) to the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven after a penalty shootout.
Goals from Leonhard Pföderl and Morgan Ellis weren’t enough for the capital city team to avert their first defeat after two wins. With the point won, the polar bears were able to reduce their gap in tenth place to two points.
In front of 4149 spectators in the Eisarena Bremerhaven, the Berliners were initially unable to build on their recent strong performances. The hosts dominated the match and used their first power play to give Jan Urbas the opener.
In the second third, Markus Vikingstad extended the lead, but now the Berliners were also becoming dangerous. Pföderl turned a precise cross pass from Matt White into a goal, 30 seconds before the break siren Ellis equalized with a long-range shot.
Leo Pföderl scored the 1:2 goal for the polar bears Photo: picture alliance / Eibner-Presse
The final section remained goalless. In extra time, the capitals missed some great chances to win. In the penalty shootout only Gregory Kreutzer was successful and decided the game in favor of the hosts.