Champion Eisbären Berlin has managed a liberation in the relegation battle of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). The polar bears won against the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven after extra time 3:2 (1:0, 1:1, 0:1, 1:0) and left the relegation zone.
The Augsburg Panthers are back in 14th place there. They lost to the Iserlohn Roosters 3:4 (1:0, 0:3, 2:1). The bottom of the table, the Bietigheim Steelers, lost 6-3 (1-3, 1-2, 1-1) on the debut of their new coach Pekka Kangasalusta at newly promoted Löwen Frankfurt.
In the play-off race, ERC Ingolstadt and the Straubing Tigers continued to score and reduced their gap to second-placed Adler Mannheim for the time being. After the 5:1 (1:1, 2:0, 2:0) in the home derby against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers, Ingolstadt is tied with Mannheim in third place. Straubing scored 4-1 (2-1, 2-0, 0-0) at Düsseldorfer EG.
Mannheim can pull away again on Sunday (4.30 p.m.) in the top game against leaders Red Bull Munich.
Berlin took the lead with goals from Giovanni Fiore (20′) and Morgan Ellis (25′), Skyler McKenzie (31′) and Alexander Friesen (47′) equalized for Bremerhaven before Fiore (61′) scored his second in who made the decision overtime.