Munich, Germany - Eyeing the number one seed in the playoffs, the Berlin Eisbären took advantage of Cologne’s shootout loss and now lead the second-place Kölner Haie by three points. Elsewhere on Friday, Nürnberg continues to put heat on Düsseldorf in the battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. At the bottom of the table, Hannover lost further ground on thriving ERC Ingolstadt.

Rob Shearer had a powerplay goal and two assists as the Berlin Eisbären routed the Hannover Scorpions 5-1 (1-0, 2-0, 2-0). Sven Felski put Berlin on the board just five minutes into the contest, but Hannover battled back and kept the game close for almost 30 minutes. Todd Simon evened the score at 1-1 86 seconds into the second period. Berlin turned the momentum behind tallies from Mark Beaufait and Steve Walker. Shearer and Dave Roberts scored just 30 seconds apart to put the game away less than seven minutes from the final horn.

Berlin (93 points) gained ground on the Kölner Haie (90), who squandered a two-goal road lead against the Frankfurt Lions. Rick Girard scored a goal and a helper as the Lions rallied to beat Cologne 3-2 (0-1, 2-1, 0-0, 1-0) after penalty shootout. The Haie failed to capitalize on their early dominance. Dave McLlwain gave them the lead on a two-man advantage midway through the opening stanza. A goal from Alex Hicks doubled the lead 60 seconds into the middle frame, but Frankfurt responded right away and picked up confidence. Robert Busch made it 2-1 just 54 seconds after Hick’s goal. Girard tied the game at 2-2 midway through the period. After a scoreless third, Pat LeBeau converted the winning penalty shot to give the Lions their first win over Cologne in four meetings this season.

Roach gives Mannheim late win

The third place Mannheim Adler (86 points) also needed a shootout decision to wrestle down the last-place Schwenninger Wild Wings on the road, 3-2 (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 1-0). The Wings seemed to be en route to an upset when Czech defenseman Lukas Zib made it 2-1 with eight minutes to go in regulation. But two scores from Andy Roach turned the momentum. First, he tied the game with 3:25 left and then converted the game-winning penalty shot to give Mannheim a lucky win.

Elsewhere, the fifth-place Nürnberg Ice Tigers (83) managed to closed the gap to the fourth-place Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars (81) to two points. Led by two goals from league-leading goal scorer Christoph Brandner, the Krefeld Pinguine stunned Düsseldorf 3-1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0) on the road. Scoring efficiency made the difference. The Metro Stars dominated the contest, but failed to cash in on their opportunities. Brandner opened the scoring just 4:59 into the opening period. A powerplay goal from Ex-Penguin Jeff Christian tied the game at 1-1 early in the middle frame, but the DEG screwed a possible turn of momentum with back-to-back penalties. Brandner scored on the two-man advantage to put Krefeld ahead 2-1 midway through the period. David Musial’s goal with just over seven minutes to go in regulation sealed the 3-1 road win.

Big comeback: Tomlinson looking hot in Tigers’ win

Nürnberg closed in on Düsseldorf, sweeping the season series against the Iserlohn Roosters with a 3-2 (1-0, 1-1, 1-1) away win. Dave Tomlinson continued to look hot in just his second game back from a shoulder injury, scoring two goals and an assist, including the game-winning goal with 4:21 left in the final period.

The eight-place Hamburg Freezers (63) failed to cash in on Iserlohn’s (61) loss. A shorthanded goal by Duane Moeser early in the third period turned out to be the backbreaker as the Augsburg Panther (54) skated to a stunning 4-1 (0-0, 2-1, 2-0) road win over the Freezers.

Elsewhere, Ingolstadt (50 points) continues to thrive under new head coach Olle Öst. Sean Tallaire and Glen Goodall both had a goal and an assist as the ERC skated to a 3-1 (1-0, 2-1, 0-0) win over the Kassel Huskies (68), closing the gap to the 12th-place Hannover Scorpions (53) to only three points.