After three victories in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL), the Eisbären Berlin have suffered a setback. On Friday evening, the German champions lost 4-2 (2-2, 0-0, 0-2) against the Bietigheim Steelers after a poor performance.
Two goals from Giovanni Fiore were not enough for the capitals to avert defeat. In his first game of the season after a long injury break, national player Leonhard Pföderl was just as unable to set any decisive accents as was newcomer Alexandre Grenier on his debut.
In front of 9,521 spectators in the arena at Ostbahnhof, Fiore gave the home side an early lead on the power play, who again had to do without numerous injured or ill regular players. But the Bietigheimers also used their majority situations consistently: Teemu Lepaus and former Eisbären professional Daniel Weiß scored when the guests had one player more on the ice.
Fiore was able to equalize with his second goal before the first break, but even after the restart the polar bears struggled against opponents who were also weakened by many failures. In the final section, Weiß used one of the hosts’ many puck losses to give Bietigheim the lead again. A few seconds before the end of the game, Benjamin Zientek even scored the fourth goal for the guests after the polar bears had taken their goalie Tobias Ancicka off the ice.
Munich also loses
Leader Munich also lost after three wins in a row. Head coach Don Jackson’s team had to admit defeat to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers 3:4 (2:2, 1:0, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1) after a penalty shoot-out in front of 3,837 spectators in the home Olympic ice rink .
In Munich, in front of 3837 fans, Ryan McKiernan, Christopher Desousa and Austin Ortega met for the title co-favourite. In the meantime, Ryan had turned a 0:1 into a 2:1 for the Franks with his two goals, Dane Fox forced extra time with the 3:3.
Mannheim marches
Second-placed Adler Mannheim, on the other hand, extended their winning streak to six consecutive victories by beating the Schwenningen Wild Wings 4-2 (1-0, 2-1, 1-1). In Schwenningen, Mannheim quickly set the course for victory. Borna Rendulic, Luca Tosto and Matthias Plachta ensured a reassuring 3-0 lead. Tylor Sprink reduced the deficit with two goals for the Wild Wings before Plachta made everything clear for the guests.
Wolfsburg with a series of defeats
In a chasing duel, the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven won against the Düsseldorfer EG 4:2 (1:1, 2:1, 1:0) and improved past the strong promoted Löwen Frankfurt to third place in the table.
The Straubing Tigers won the duel between two round of 16 in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg 5:2 (0:0, 2:2, 3:0), for the Lower Saxony it was already the fourth defeat in a row .
Sharks beat Ingolstadt
The Kölner Haie already won at ERC Ingolstadt on Thursday (October 13th, 2022). Coach Uwe Krupp’s team celebrated their sixth win of the season at 4:1.