At the start of the new year, the Kölner Haie confirmed their strong form and celebrated their 14th win in the last 15 games. In the duel with the Straubing Tigers on the XXL match day of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL), the Haie won 4:2 (2:0, 2:2, 0:0). Masters Eisbären Berlin made a mistake at home, as did the majority of the sharks’ chasers.
In the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, which was sold out with 18,600 fans, the Haie were very efficient against the Tigers in the first third. Maximilian Kammerer took the lead after two minutes, before Nate Schnarr (17th) and Frederik Storm (24th) followed up. Schnarr (38th) responded again to a setback caused by the Straubing double strike from Nicholas Halloran (30th) and Justin Scott (30th).
Berlin, on the other hand, did not find its way to success in the new year either. Despite a lead at the start, the Eisbären lost 2:3 against the Löwen Frankfurt (1:0, 0:2, 1:1). For the Berliners it was the seventh defeat in the last ten games.
Panthers and Wild Wings score 13 goals
Of the chasing group, only EHC Red Bull Munich managed to avoid a mistake at the start of the year. Bayern won 3:2 (0:2, 0:0, 2:0, 1:0) after a penalty shootout at the Grizzlys Wolfsburg. The Adler Mannheim lost against the Dresdner Eislöwen 2:5 (1:2, 1:2, 0:1) and slipped to third place in the table. The ERC Ingolstadt left the ice as losers in the duel between the play-off contenders and the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven with 2:3 (1:1, 0:1, 1:1).
In the most spectacular game of the XXL matchday, the Augsburg Panthers won against the Schwenninger Wild Wings 7:6 (4:0, 1:5, 2:1). After being down 4-0 after the first period, the Wild Wings responded with 5-1 in the second period before the hosts took the lead again.