Munich, Germany - A solo effort by defenseman Mirko Lüdemann sparked a late rally that saw the Kölner Haie come from behind to down local rival Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars 3-1 (0-0, 0-1, 3-0) in the only game in the DEL Tuesday night.

The win lifted the Haie into a second-place tie with the Mannheim Adler.

A sellout crowd of over 18,000 packed the KölnArena to witness the 152nd edition of one of the fiercest local rivalries in German hockey, the battle on the Rhine river. They got to see a rather mediocre game, though.

After a scoreless opening period, it was Düsseldorf’s Tore Vikingstad who broke the deadlock with a short-handed goal midway through the middle frame.

Both teams had their opportunities, including 5-on-3 powerplay advantages in the final period, but failed to cash in.

With less than six minutes left in regulation, Lüdemann took the puck, skated through the Metro Stars zone and knocked it past young DEG netminder Alexander Jung to tie the game at 1-1.

Düsseldorf was not shocked, though, and the game seemed headed for overtime.

But Cologne’s sniper Alex Hicks got open for a split second and converted a feed from defenseman Brad Schlegel to put the Haie ahead, 2-1. Seven seconds from the final horn, Dwayne Norris capped the scoring at 3-1 with an empty-netter, the only powerplay goal of the contest.