Red Bull Munich was the first team to book a ticket for the playoff quarter-finals in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
After a 5: 1 (2: 0, 0: 0, 3: 1) at the bottom of the table Bietigheim Steelers, the leader has 103 points and secured one of the first six places early. There are still seven main round games left for Munich.
Follower Adler Mannheim suffered a setback at home in the 0:3 (0:2, 0:0, 0:1) against the Iserlohn Roosters and slipped down to third place with 89 points. The new second is ERC Ingolstadt (90) after a 8:3 (3:1, 2:1, 3:1) thrashing of the Kölner Haie. The game was interrupted for a longer time due to an emergency doctor in the hall.
Cologne (77) is still seventh, as the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven (8th/75) lost 2:4 (2:1, 0:1, 0:2) at the Nuremberg Ice Tigers. However, the North Germans played one game less than the Haie. The Augsburg Panthers, second to last in the table, lost 1:5 (0:2, 0:3, 1:0) against the Löwen Frankfurt in their own hall. The Hessians jumped to tenth place, which entitles them to participate in the pre-playoffs.
Benjamin Smith with a hat trick (13’/48’/59′), Frederik Tiffels (19′) and Austin Ortega (59′) scored for Munich. Chase Berger was successful for the Steelers (44th).