EHC Munich took the lead (2:1) in the DEL playoffs for the first time with a 5:2 (2:0, 2:2, 1:0) win against ERC Ingolstadt. Munich’s Markus Eisenschmid (3rd/38th) scored two goals in a high-scoring and hard-fought Bayern derby.
It was a game of double blows: Munich needed 26 seconds from 1-0 to 2-0, Ingolstadt later responded with a double strike within 24 seconds. Markus Eisenschmid turned out to be the match winner and the “terror from the fourth row”. The fourth line is mostly made up of players who receive little ice time.
So it’s understandable that the double goalscorer celebrated his selection after his strong performance: “It’s fun with Nikolaus Heigl. Both guys in the line cycle, they move their legs. It complements each other really well.”
The relevance of a deep squad becomes apparent early on in the playoffs. Ingolstadt’s coach Mark French saw the reasons for the defeat in the phase after the 2-2 equalizer: “They got off to a good start. After that it was hard to keep up. We equalized in the second third. But we didn’t use the momentum. After that we made mistakes in defense.”
Ingolstadt conceded 16 goals in three games
And these mistakes led to another three goals for the hosts. The statistics speak for themselves. After three games, Munich keeper Simon Wolf has only conceded eight goals, whereas Ingolstadt conceded 16 goals. But Eisenschmid doesn’t want to know anything about a preliminary decision in the series.
“Apart from the two goals conceded, it was a solid performance. We underestimated the speed through the middle twice. We have to play smarter. It’s a close series.” The fourth game will take place on Tuesday evening (March 31st) in Ingolstadt, where the Munich team won 6-1 on the second play-off match day.
