Equalization in the ice hockey final: Berlin enforces the all-or-nothing final


Equalization in the ice hockey final
Berlin enforces the all-or-nothing endgame

The Grizzlys Wolfsburg missed the first big chance to win the first championship title in the club’s history. The Eisbären Berlin win the second final at the Lower Saxony and can now perfect the record title in their own hall. The last game of the DEL season is about everything.

The silver cup is wrapped up again, the decision in the fight for the anniversary title postponed. The comeback kings of the Eisbären Berlin reported 4: 1 (1: 0, 2: 1, 1: 0) at the Grizzlys Wolfsburg in the second playoff final for the 100th German ice hockey championship and forced a third duel .

“We had a good start. The boys were hungry from the very first second. They have character, they have shown that. Now we’re going home again,” said Eisbären coach Serge Aubin at “MagentaSport”. “Berlin put a lot of pressure on, was stronger than us in terms of running. We were always one step too late, the better team won,” admitted Wolfsburg coach Pat Cortina.

Frank Hördler (17th minute), Ryan McKiernan (28th), Sebastian Streu (31st) and Lukas Reichel (59th) ensured with their goals that the Berliners won their eighth DEL title on Friday evening (7.30 p.m. / MagentaSport) since 2005. Gerrit Fauser brought Wolfsburg up again in the 38th minute. This time his team was clearly inferior at times, but the Lower Saxony also have the chance in game three to become champions for the first time in their club’s history and to catch up with the failed title celebration two days late.

The fact that this second final was more one-sided than the hard-fought first game was mainly due to the polar bears. They put the grizzlies under pressure right from the start. Even before the 0: 1 by the Olympic silver medalist Hördler, Wolfsburg’s strong goalkeeper Dustin Strahlmeier prevented a deficit several times. Even after the 1: 3, the Berliners were not nervous again. In the final minutes, Wolfsburg’s coach Cortina took the risk and took Strahlmeier off the ice, Berlin’s Reichel then made everything clear with a 4-1 into the empty goal.

Wolfsburg nervous, Berlin can handle failure

The Grizzlys, on the other hand, have never been so close to their first title win as they were on this evening, despite their three defeats in the final in 2011, 2016 and 2017. And it was precisely this prospect that seemed to make the outsider nervous rather than spur on.

They could have used the support of their fans in this situation. But not only that no spectators were allowed into the halls for the entire season during the coronavirus pandemic. Before this game, the police and the city of Wolfsburg also prohibited a car parade and a fan campaign in front of the arena, which were supposed to make the team even hotter.

The polar bears, on the other hand, even put up with the short-term failure of their top striker Zachary Boychuk. The 32-year-old Canadian was injured. The other Berlin players demonstratively hung his jersey with the number 89 over the exchange bench. “The chemistry in the team plays a big role,” said managing director Peter John Lee at “MagentaSport”.

Although they had lost all five previous duels with Wolfsburg, the Berliners appeared with the self-image of being the better team and the comeback kings of these playoffs. Already in the first knockout rounds against Iserlohn and Ingolstadt they lost the first game and then turned the series. That too makes her a favorite for the title on Friday evening. But the Wolfsburg team has also had a lot more nerves in the past few weeks than on Wednesday evening. Against Bremerhaven and Mannheim they also prevailed in the third game, the hope of a comeback.

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