The Adler Mannheim give the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven no chance in the third match of the playoff quarter-final series.
Only one win separates the Adler Mannheim from reaching the playoff semi-final series in the DEL. On Sunday (March 29th) the Kurpfälzer beat the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven in front of their home crowd with 5:1 (4:0, 1:0, 0:1). This means that coach Dallas Eakins’ team is 3-0 ahead in the quarterfinals – and the so-called “sweep”, i.e. deciding the series without defeat, is within reach. The Eagles only need one more success to make it into the top four. The main round runner-up had already set the goal of the first German championship since 2019 before the start of the knockout round.
Justin Schütz puts the Adler Mannheim in front early on
How nice in the 5-2 home win in game one of the quarter-final series The Eagles got off to a perfect start: Alexander Ehl passed through to Justin Schütz – and the 25-year-old scored from half left under the crossbar of the Bremerhaven goal to make it 1-0 for the hosts (2nd minute).
Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven are literally overrun
Just three minutes later, Mannheim followed up: Kristian Reichel shot from the blue line, William Worge Kreü pushed the puck over the goal line at the far post to make it 2-0 (5th). The first DEL and Adler goal for the Swedish defender. Shortly afterwards, Matthias Plachta increased the score to 3-0 for the Adler after winning the puck after a face-off (9th). Immediately afterwards, Nicolas Mattinen scored with a deflected shot to make it 4-0 (10th) – Penguins keeper Kristers Gudlevskis was powerless. We went into the third break with a four-goal lead – after the Kurpfälze had literally overrun the North Germans in the opening phase.
In the second 20 minutes, the Eagles took it easy and, given their clear lead, focused on controlling the game. Bremerhaven struggled on offense and only managed a few notable shots. And when the Pinguins did create chances, Mannheim keeper Maximilian Franzreb, who played for Bremerhaven between 2021 and 2025, was there.
The Electoral Palatinate, however, stepped up despite the “somewhat slowed down” style of play: Lukas Kälble simply shot from the blue line – and the puck deflected by Reichel rolled through the legs of Leon Hungerecker, who was now replacing Gudlevskis in the North German goal, to make it 5-0 (33′). That was also the score after the second third.
Akito Hirose with the consolation goal for the North Germans
In the final round, the Penguins got off to a lightning start: Akito Hirose followed up on a rebound and reduced the score to 1:5 from the visitors’ perspective (41′). The Eagles were no longer pushing themselves to the limit; it seemed as if they wanted to conserve their energy for game four. Coach Eakins’ team concentrated on defense – and nothing burned. After the deserved 5-1 home win, Mannheim is now 3-0 ahead in the series.
It continues on Tuesday
Both teams continue on Tuesday (March 31, 7:30 p.m.) in Bremerhaven, when the Fishtown Pinguins host the Adler Mannheim for game four of the quarter-final series. After that the duel could already be decided. If not, the fifth match will continue on Good Friday (April 2nd) – then again in Mannheim. The semi-finals begin on April 8th, the final series starts on April 24th.
