Munich, Germany - Defending champion Kölner Haie continues to struggle. Three days after an embarrassing 3-4 loss to the Hannover Scorpions, Cologne got upset by another underdog, losing to the Iserlohn Roosters. Mannheim seized the opportunity and moved to the top of the standings after downing fellow title contender Düsseldorf. In Ingolstadt, two tallies by Andy Schneider gave the Hamburg Freezers their first point of the season.

Slovak center Andrej Podkonicky was the man of the day in Cologne. He scored two early goals as the Iserlohn Roosters jumped out to a stunning 3-0 lead at the KölnArena. Andreas Morczinietz got the Haie on the scoreboard late in the first, but failed to spark a rally. An empty-netter by Chris Lipsett sealed Iserlohn’s 4-2 (3-1, 0-0, 1-1) road win, handing Cologne its second straight home loss.

Mannheim strikes early

The Haie are now trailing new leader Mannheim by three points. The Adler moved to the top of the table with a 3-1 (3-1, 0-0, 0-0) home win over fellow title-contender Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars. Three early strikes by Devin Edgerton, Yves Racine and Francois Groleau within a 102-second span was all the Adler needed to hold the DEG in check.

Former Munich Barons winger Alex Serikow scored his second straight game-winning goal for the Kassel Huskies. Five days after sealing an OT win over Ingolstadt with two converted penalty shots, Serikow scored with 3:56 left in the final period, giving the Huskies and netminder Rich Parent a 1-0 (0-0, 0-0, 1-0) shutout win over the Berlin Eisbären.

Late-scoring jinx continues to bother Ingolstadt

Serikow’s ex-teammate Kent Fearns converted the winning penalty shot as expansion team ERC Ingolstadt defeated the Hamburg Freezers 5-4 (1-0, 3-3, 0-1, 1-0) after an overtime penalty shootout. Ingolstadt once again wasted a point, though, conceding a late tally for the third time in five games. Hamburg’s Andy Schneider scored with just over a minute to go in regulation to finally give the Freezers their first point of the season after opening the season with two regulation losses.

Ingolstadt drew first blood when youngster Christoph Melischko netted in the puck after a wrap-around attempt by Shayne Toporowski seven minutes into the campaign. Sean Tallaire doubled the lead to 2-0 early in the second, converting the rebound of Francois Bouchard’s blast on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Glen Goodall even extended the gap to three goals on a solo effort two minutes later. Hamburg responded almost immediately, though. David Sulkovsky’s powerplay goal got the Freezers on the scoreboard 84 seconds later. With the momentum on their side, they closed the deficit to 3-2 when Scott Lachance converted a feed from defenseman Jeff Tory. Alexander Genze’s 4-2 interrupted Hamburg’s rally only temporarily.

A solo effort by Andy Schneider closed the deficit to 4-3 just 80 seconds before the second intermission. Tremendous goaltending by ERC netminder Ilpo Kauhanen denied Hamburg’s third-period efforts for 19 minutes, but it was Schneider who sent the game into an overtime shootout decision with an extra skater on. With the shootout score tied at 2-2, Ingolstadt’s Kent Fearns converted the winning attempt, beating former Munich Barons teammate Boris Rousson in the Freezers’ net.

Nuremberg downs Krefeld in low-scoring affair

Martin Jiranek’s tally 39 seconds into the opening period was all the Nuremberg Ice Tigers needed to blank the Krefeld Pinguine in a meeting of two ailing teams, 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0). Tigers goaltender Marc Seliger got his first shutout of the season.

Rick Girard recorded three assists as the Frankfurt Lions skated to their third straight home win, beating the Schwenningen Wild Wings 4-1 (3-1, 0-0, 1-0).

Greg Leeb had a goal and a helper as the Augsburg Panthers downed the Hannover Scorpions at home, 3-1 (1-0, 0-0, 2-1).