League leaders Eisbären Berlin suffered a painful home defeat in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
The record champions lost the turbulent “bear duel” against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg after a completely botched start 6:9 (1:4, 0:2, 5:3). Berlin won the first duel of the season 5-0.
The team of coach Serge Aubin, who extended his contract by two years on Friday, completely missed the start: ex-polar bear Matthew White (2nd) was outnumbered and Justin Feser (3rd) quickly shot the guests into the lead, Darren Archibald and Chris Wilkie (15th each) increased the score to 4-0 within nine seconds.
Then it went back and forth. After two thirds it was 1:6, but even after Darren Archibald made it 3:7 (47′), Berlin didn’t give up and came back to 6:7 (59′). But Wolfsburg had the last word.
The Eisbären had previously set a record number of spectators in the women’s Bundesliga. Also in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, 2,801 fans saw a 0:1 (0:1, 0:0, 0:0) against the EC Bergkamener Bären.