The Kölner Haie have made an exclamation mark in the German Ice Hockey League. The secret favorite beat defending champion Red Bull Munich 5:2 (0:0, 2:1, 3:1) on Friday evening (September 22nd, 2023) and maintained the lead in the table with a maximum of nine points from three games.
Record champions Eisbären Berlin also celebrated their third victory. The capital city team confidently won 4:1 (2:0, 1:1, 1:0) against the almost relegated Augsburger Panther. Co-favorites Adler Mannheim struggled to win 4:2 (0:0, 0:1, 4:1) after falling behind twice against the Iserlohn Roosters.
Runner-up ERC Ingolstadt got rid of their frustration in a 7:2 (2:0, 5:0, 0:2) win against the Schwenninger Wild Wings and recorded their first win of the season at the third attempt. The Grizzlys Wolfsburg defeated the Straubing Tigers 2:1 (0:0, 0:1, 1:0, 0:0, 1:0) after a penalty shootout.
DEG still without points at the bottom of the table
Still without points at the bottom of the table, next to Augsburg is the weakened Düsseldorfer EG, which lost 1:4 (0:1, 1:2, 0:1) at the Nuremberg Ice Tigers. Munich took the lead through Ben Street (24th), but Tim Wohlgemuth (34th) and Andreas Thuresson (38th) turned the game around in the second third. Alexandre Grenier (45th), Maximilian Kammerer (47th) and Brady Austin (55th) increased for the enormously strengthened Haie, who won their eighth and last championship title in 2002. Ben Smith (58th) shortened the score for the hosts shortly before the end. Blaine Byron (5th), Tobias Eder (10th), Lean Bergmann (37th) and Ty Ronning (42nd) scored for the Berliners, who missed the play-offs for the first time in 22 years in the messed up last season.