Wild playoff showdown
Polar bears pluck eagles in nine minutes
4/22/2022, 10:49 p.m
The favorites for the German ice hockey championship have again prevailed in their playoff semi-finals despite falling behind. A decision can already be made on Sunday.
Champion Eisbären Berlin and EHC Red Bull Munich are only missing one win to reach the playoff finals of the German Ice Hockey League. Thanks to a spectacular third period, Berlin won 6:3 (0:1, 1:1, 5:1) in the second of five possible games at the Adler Mannheim. Munich turned the game against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg, won 3: 2 (1: 2, 2: 0, 0: 0) and is also 2: 0 ahead in the best-of-five series.
- The Löwen Frankfurt are about to be promoted to the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
- In the final of the DEL2, the Hessians celebrated the decisive fourth victory in the best-of-seven series with a 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:0) at the Ravensburg Towerstars and thus as champions the sporting qualification for the jump up.
- If the Frankfurters get the DEL license, they will replace the Krefeld penguins in the top German division.
In a hard-fought encounter, the Mannheimers led 2-1 for a long time in front of 12,670 spectators through Jordan Szwarz (14th minute) and Florian Elias (37th) when Manuel Wiederer (28th) conceded a goal. In the final round, Blaine Bairon (48th/57th), Leonard Pföderl and Zach Boychuk (both 55th) made it 5:2 from a narrow deficit. “We took advantage of the opportunities,” enthused Berlin’s Kai Wissmann at Magentasport about the third third. “Win is win and that’s what counts in the playoffs.”
Appeal by Adler Elias
Tim Wohlgemuth (58th) for Mannheim and Boychuck again (59th) made the 6:3 final perfect. “We weren’t that concentrated in the last few minutes,” complained Adler professional Elias. “We now have to watch videos, regenerate and then be there from the first minute.” Game three takes place on Sunday (5 p.m. / Magentasport) in Berlin.
After the clear 1:5 defeat in Munich, the Grizzlies started furiously in front of 3261 spectators in Wolfsburg. Goals from Anthony Rech (7th minute) and Phil Hungerecker 75 seconds later gave the hosts a 2-0 lead. Austin Ortega was able to shorten for the title contender with just under five minutes remaining in the first third. After Benjamin Smith equalized 2-2 (25′), Maximilian Kastner finally turned the game around after 36 minutes.
“We started well and had enough chances. Today it was down to the little things,” said Grizzly pro Fabio Pfohl. “Now we have to finish the game quickly. We keep believing in ourselves.” Munich, on the other hand, has the first chance to make it into the final on Sunday (2 p.m. / Magentasport). “We know what we can do. We have to keep playing,” said goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland.