Exhaustive final series
Polar bears work out two match points
05/02/2022, 10:11 p.m
The German Ice Hockey League sent its two best teams into a mercilessly timed final series. And the opponents from Berlin and Munich also put up a tough fight in the third duel within four days. It’s incredibly tight, defending champion Berlin shoots the series first.
In the tightly timed final series, Eisbären Berlin once again mastered the endurance test against EHC Red Bull Munich and are only one victory away from the silver cup. With the tight 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0), last year’s champion celebrated the second of three necessary successes to win the title. On Wednesday (7.30 p.m. / MagentaSport) the Berliners can defend their title and ninth championship in the German Ice Hockey League in Munich. Munich must now win twice in a row to dethrone the polar bears.
In the third final game within four days, Zachary Boychuk gave the polar bears the lead (5th minute). Zachary Redmond (7th) quickly equalized for Munich in the spirited opening phase. In the middle third, Berlin striker Dominik Bokk (39th) decided the game, which was exciting and hard-fought until the end.
It was only on Sunday that the polar bears managed to equalize the series with a 3-2 win in the second overtime in Munich. In the first final meeting, Munich had turned 0: 3 in Berlin and won 4: 3. Whoever wins three times is champion. Should a fifth game be necessary, the Berliners will host on Thursday.
Rapid start, tough middle third
On the day after the second final duel over 84 minutes, both teams offered the 14,200 spectators a fast-paced and offensive game in the first section. After just 16 seconds, polar bear striker Boychuk hit the post. Early on, the Canadian took advantage of a carelessness on the part of the guests in the first Berlin majority situation: When EHC defender Konrad Abeltshauser tried to free himself, the puck landed on Kevin Clark’s ice skate at Boychuk.
A good two minutes later, however, the equalizer came: Benjamin Street did the preparatory work for Redmond, DEL Defender of the Year, to make it 1-1. The fact that playoff top scorer Blaine Byron was not part of the squad was a painful loss for the polar bears. The fact that Boychuk had to go into the dressing room at the end of the second period after a check by Trevor Parkes meant another personal setback.
The stress of the past few days was noticeable to the finalists in the second section. The game lost speed, errors increased. It was a little surprising that Berlin took the lead again: defender Kai Wissmann kept his cool and overview. Bokk deflected the shot decisively. In the final section it remained exciting given the narrow lead. But the polar bears defended well.