Munich, Germany - Rich Chernomaz’s return to Cologne brought back sweet memories to the Kölner Haie faithful. Less than eight months ago, the interim coach turned around a seemingly forgettable season and led the Haie all the way to the DEL championship. Tuesday night, Chernomaz received a warm welcome in his old homestead. Then he proved that he is still a winner.

After three wins in a row, Cologne’s winning streak came to a sudden stop. With 11,170 packing the Kölnarena, the league-leading Haie got thrashed by Chernomaz’s new team, the Augsburg Panthers. Sergej Vostrikov scored on the two-man advantage and added two assists as the Panthers rolled to a 5-0 (1-0, 2-0, 2-0) blanking. Frederic Bouchard, Björn Barta, PC Drouin and Craig Leeb also tallied goals for Augsburg, Xavier Delisle had three assists.

Krefeld needs extra session to win

Elsewhere, Krefeld squandered a 2-0 lead but went on to beat the Hamburg Freezers 3-2 (2-0, 0-1, 0-1, 1-0) after shootout. A shorthanded goal from Steffen Ziesche and a tally by Sandy Moger had the Pinguine up 2-0 after the opening period. Hamburg rallied to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of regulation behind powerplay goals by Jacek Plachta and Mike Stevens. Sergej Stas converted the winning penalty shot for Krefeld.