Munich, Germany - A day after Cologne’s win in Schwenningen, the Berlin Eisbären reclaimed the number one spot in the DEL. Pierre Page’s team had to battle hard against the Augsburg Panthers, though. Trying to keep pace, the Mannheim Adler got upset by the Frankfurt Lions. Elsewhere, ERC Ingolstadt stopped the streaking Krefeld Pinguine.

Two third-period goals from Steve Walker made the difference as the Eisbären wrestled down the strong Augsburg Panthers at home, 3-1 (0-0, 1-1, 2-0). Playing their third game under new head coach Rich Chernomaz, the Panthers looked rejuvenated and kept the game close till the final seconds. Shawn Carter gave Augsburg the lead seven minutes into the second, but Dave Roberts managed to come up with the equalizer before the second intermission. Walker scored the eventual game-winner with 12:27 remaining before sealing the win with an empty-netter 13 seconds from the final horn.

The Frankfurt Lions surprisingly ended their five-game losing streak with a 5-4 (3-1, 1-3, 1-0) home win over the Mannheim Adler. Andy Roach got Mannheim on the scoreboard early on, but back-to-back tallies by Rick Girard and a goal from Pat Lebeau put Frankfurt up 3-1 at the first intermission. Adler head coach Phil Stewart replaced starting netminder Mike Rosati with youngster Dimitri Pätzold and his team slowly found its rhythm. When they finally started clicking late in the second, it took only three minutes to turn the momentum: On the man advantage, Jason Podollan got stopped on a solo effort, but Mike Kennedy jammed home the rebound. Just a minute later, Podollan launched a rocket from the right-face off circle past Dominic Roussel to tie the contest at 3-3.

90 seconds later, defenseman Chris Joseph unleashed a blast from exactly the same spot, beating Frankfurt’s goalie to the glove side on the powerplay. Leading 4-3 and playing on the man advantage again, Mannheim threatened to put the game out of reach late in the second. But the Lions responded: Coming out of the penalty box, Robert Francz received an outlet pass from Greg Adams and beat Pätzold on the breakaway, tying the score at 4-4 with 68 seconds to go in the middle frame. Frankfurt’s grittiness got rewarded again with 14:36 left in the third: Mannheim failed to clear the puck out of the zone, Girard dug it out along the right boards, pulled to the net and got denied by Pätzold, but former-Adler Jackson Penney knocked it home for the eventual game-winner.

Nuremberg gets road win

Bernd Kühnhauser and Marc Beaucage scored second-period tallies as the Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars rallied from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Hannover Scorpions 2-1 (0-0, 2-1, 0-0) at home.

Hamburg’s record in the newly-built Color Line Arena dropped to 2-2 as the Nuremberg Ice Tigers handed the Freezers their second straight home loss, 5-4 (3-1, 0-0. 1-1). After falling behind early, Nuremberg turned the momentum and was in control of the game after three unanswered first-period tallies from Guy Lehoux, Marc Savard and Kevin Dahl. After a scoreless second, Bob Lachance temporarily moved Hamburg to within a goal midway through the final period, but Ivan Droppa’s goal with 7:07 to go put the game away.

Elsewhere, Brent Pederson scored six minutes into the final period to lift the soaring Kassel Huskies to a 2-1 (0-0, 1-1, 1-0) road win over the Iserlohn Roosters.

Ingolstadt: Newly-signed Hackert scores game-winner

After thrashing the Frankfurt Lions 6-0 last Sunday, expansion team ERC Ingolstadt looked strong again at home, stopping the streaking Krefeld Pinguine 4-2 (1-1, 0-0, 3-1). Even more surprising than the win itself: Krefeld’s high-powered offense, which had combined for 19 goals over the last three games, was limited to two goals.

Ingolstadt got off to a great start when defenseman Brad Burym hammered a slapshot through Robert Müller’s five-hole from the left face-off circle. Krefeld tied the score at 1-1 when Brad Purdie redirected Dan Lambert’s blast from the left point past ERC goalie Ilpo Kauhanen on the game’s first powerplay. After a scoreless second, Ingolstadt took control midway through the final session: Playing shorthanded, Pinguine goalie Müller made a diving stop, Sean Tallaire picked up the rebound, skated behind the net and found Sam Groleau on the doorstep. He knocked the puck into the wide-open net to put Ingolstadt up 2-1.

Just a minute later, Rainer Suchan got stopped on the breakaway, but newly-signed Michael Hackert jammed home the loose puck to make it 3-1, the eventual game-winner - crowning a great debut for the youngster, who had been brought in just a couple of days ago to replace Sven Zywitza, who is out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.

Krefeld kept pressing, though. Andrej Grygiel’s goal with seven minutes to go put the game on the line, but ERC defender Francois Bouchard sealed Ingolstadt’s win with an empty-netter in the waning seconds.