The top trio of the German Ice Hockey League lost their feathers on the 36th day of the game.
League leaders Red Bull Munich surprisingly lost 2:5 (0:1, 1:1, 1:3) against Düsseldorfer EG on Wednesday evening. It was only the fourth home defeat of the season for the runners-up.
“That just wasn’t enough of us today,” said defender Konrad Abeltshauser, acknowledging the opponent’s good performance: “Düsseldorf were really good and we played too complicated at times.”
At the same time, the Grizzlys Wolfsburg set a clear scent mark in the top game against ERC Ingolstadt, second in the table. Thanks to the 9: 1 (2: 1, 3: 0, 4: 0) victory, coach Michael Stewart’s team remains close to third place.
Despite the third defeat in the fourth game, the Mannheim eagles can still be found there. The ex-champion lost 2:3 (1:1, 0:1, 1:0, 0:1) at the Iserlohn Roosters after extra time. Iserlohn’s Emile Poirier scored the decisive goal in overtime after just 58 seconds.
Eisbären Berlin collect the next low blow
In the relegation battle, the ailing champion Eisbären Berlin could not take any points from Bremerhaven either. The polar bears lost 1:2 (1:1, 0:1, 0:0) at the Fischtown Pinguins.
Meanwhile, the Kölner Haie once again demonstrated their good form and consolidated their playoff position with a 2-1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1) win against the Straubing Tigers.
Tail light Bietigheim Steelers was rewarded for a great fight and won 6:5 after extra time (2:3, 2:1, 1:1, 1:0) against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers. The distance to the saving shore remains large at 13 points.
For the Augsburg Panthers, on the other hand, there was nothing to get in the fifth game in a row. The penultimate in the table lost against the Löwen Frankfurt 3: 6 (1: 3, 1: 0, 1: 3).