All of Krefeld’s six goals in the 6-5 (2-0, 1-3, 2-2, 1-0) win were scored on the powerplay, including three tallies on 5-on-3 advantages. The 6,242 in attendance at Krefeld’s Rheinlandhalle got to see a see-saw battle. After squandering an early 2-0 lead, Krefeld seemed to be en route to victory when back-to-back goals from top-scorer Brad Purdie on the two-man advantage turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. But with an extra skater on, former Penguin Jeff Christian came up with the equalizer for Düsseldorf with 27 seconds left on the game clock. Down by two goals, the Metro Stars had turned the momentum during a four-minute span early in the middle frame on two goals from Daniel Kreutzer (one on the powerplay) and a shorthander from Trond Magnussen. Patrik Augusta evened the score at 3-3 on a 5-on-3 powerplay, but Jean-Francois Quintin put the Metro Stars back into the lead 3:33 into the final frame. Purdie finished the day with three powerplay goals and an assist. Linemate Christoph Brandner had tallied Krefeld’s first-goal of the night.
Wild battle in HamburgBob Lachance scored the game-winning attempt in the penalty shootout to lift the eighth-seeded Hamburg Freezers to a 6-5 (1-2, 3-0, 1-3) win over the top-seeded Berlin Eisbären Thursday night, tying the quarterfinal series at 1-1. The capacity crowd of 12,759 at Hamburg’s Color Line Arena got to see a wide-open game from two offensive-minded teams. The Eisbären jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead just 2:31 into the contest on tallies from Florian Keller and Steve Walker. Jesse Belanger got Hamburg back into the game only half a minute later, cashing in on the Freezers first powerplay opportunity. 90 seconds into the middle frame, Hamburg’s captain Andy Schneider came up with the 2-2 equalizer. Hamburg added two more goals. Belanger knocked in his own rebound and Bobby House notched a powerplay goal to put the Freezers up 4-2. An apparent Eisbären goal late in the period was disallowed after video review. But Berlin’s top line got the Eisbären back into the game in final period. A powerplay tally from DEL top-scorer Mark Beaufait and two goals from Kelly Fairchild, one a shorthander, put Berlin ahead 5-4. But a lucky goal by Freezers defenseman Ted Crowley with less than five minutes to go sent the game into overtime. The Eisbären dominated the 20-minute overtime period but Freezers goalie Boris Rousson protected the tie and paved the way to the shootout win.
“We lost one game, not the whole series,” Eisbären captain John Gruden said. “We were a bit too passive in the second period and Hamburg kept working hard. You got to acknowledge that.”
Haie bounce backThe second-seeded Kölner Haie bounced back from Wednesday’s home loss and downed the seventh-seeded Kassel Huskies on the road, 3-1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0), to tie their series at one apiece. The game looked like a carbon-copy of the series opener, with reversed roles though. While Kassel dominated the game in front of 5,741 at the Eissporthalle, Cologne provided the scoring. An awkward goal put the Haie on the scoreboard 8:33 into the game. With several players wrestling for the puck behind the Husky net, the puck somehow hit netminder Rich Parent and slipped across the line. Andreas Morczinietz got credit for the score. Kassel’s Zdenek Nedved temporarily tied the score at 1-1 with a powerplay goal early in the middle stanza. The Huskies failed to add more goals, though, not capitalizing on almost eight minutes of powerplay, including two short 5-on-3 advantages. It came back to haunt them: At the other end of the ice, Alex Hicks scored on an odd-man rush to give Cologne a 2-1 edge. Just 2:16 into the final frame, Fredrik Nilsson made it 3-1 on a wrap-around score.
Mannheim gets schooled by NurembergThomas Greilinger notched a hat trick as the fifth-seeded Nürnberg Ice Tigers routed the fourth-seeded Mannheim Adler 6-1 (2-0, 1-0, 3-1) on home ice, tying the series at 1-1 in front of 6,198 at Arena Nürnberg. Martin Jiranek, Rob Guillet (powerplay) and Christian Schönmoser also scored as the Tigers handed Mannheim its highest loss of the season. The atmosphere got heated towards the end of the game. Nuremberg’s Guy Lehoux received a game misconduct after storming off the bench to support goaltender Freddy Chabot in a brawl with Mannheim’s Rene Corbet. With only 2:59 left in the game, Tomas Martinec spoiled Chabot’s shutout bid.
“Nuremberg clearly dominated the game. The Ice Tigers played with more passion, energy and intensity. They schooled us tonight”, said Adler coach Bill Stewart.
Schwenningen up 2-0 in playdown seriesOldie Mike Bullard scored the late equalizer and Christian Kohmann scored the game-winner in the penalty shootout as the Schwenninger Wild Wings edged the Frankfurt Lions 2-1 (0-1, 0-0, 1-0) to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven „playdown series”. Chistoph Sandner had given Frankfurt the lead on an early powerplay goal. The loser of the series will be relegated to Division-2.