From BZ/dpa
The defeat against leaders Munich exacerbated the relegation worries of the troubled champions in the DEL. On Wednesday against Cologne, the capitals must above all get off to a better start.
Coach Serge Aubin made no secret of his displeasure with Eisbären Berlin’s 2:3 draw against EHC Red Bull Munich on Monday evening. “We missed the first half of the game,” said the Canadian after the fourth loss in a row in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). “The boys were kind of frozen, we didn’t play at all.”
The fact that his team improved after being 3-0 down in the second period and found their way back into the game thanks to a brace from Giovanni Fiore could not appease the coach. “The bottom line is that you have to play the full 60 minutes. You don’t win hockey games if you miss thirty minutes,” Aubin said.
He was particularly annoyed by the weak start: after just 42 seconds, former Eisbären professional Austin Ortega used the Berlin team’s indecisiveness to score the league leader’s opening goal.
“That’s not good enough, that’s the reality,” Aubin admitted. “I had an experienced attacking line and two experienced defenders on the ice. We wanted to get off to a good start and pick up the pace straight away, but we obviously failed.”
The renewed defeat shrank the lead of the champions, who were only in 13th place, to the relegation zone. So the two-time goalscorer Fiore could not be happy about his performance. “It’s a team sport. At the end of the day we have to take points as a team,” said the attacker.
With a view to the home game against the Kölner Haie on Wednesday (7.30 p.m., live on MagentaSport), he also called for a better start:
“We have to focus on the first five minutes. They are the basis for the following 55 minutes,” emphasized Fiore.