Coach Serge Aubin high fives on the ice with Giovanni Fiore. Fiore’s opening goal was not enough for the polar bears to win in Frankfurt. (archive photo) Photo: dpa picture radio
From BZ/dpa
The Eisbären Berlin have continued their series of failures in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
On Sunday afternoon, the reigning champions lost unhappily at the Löwen Frankfurt 1:2 (0:0, 0:0, 1:1, 0:1) after extra time and thus conceded their third defeat in a row. Giovanni Fiore scored the only goal for the capital city, who gave away a possible success in the closing seconds.
In front of 6990 spectators in the sold-out Eissporthalle Frankfurt, the guests started strong, but despite some clear chances they missed using their initial dominance to score. The home side gradually found their game better, but were also unable to convert the few opportunities they had in the first third.
Even after the first break, the Berliners managed to put the Frankfurters under pressure again and again, but they were still unlucky in the end.
In the meantime, the capital city then took the momentum with numerous time penalties, but even managed to survive two double shorthand situations unscathed. Fiore was able to provide the Berlin lead in the final section after going it alone.
But the polar bears gave up the win: Dylan Wruck from Frankfurt equalized twelve seconds before the end of regulation time, and David Elsner scored the winning goal for the Hessians in extra time.