Munich, Germany - Jimmy Waite recorded his first shutout as ERC Ingolstadt won back-to-back games for the first time this season, stunning the Mannheim Adler on the road. Elsewhere on gameday 16 in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Oliver Jonas backstopped the Berlin Eisbären to an impressive home win over the Kölner Haie. In Hamburg, the Freezers and defending champions Krefeld Pinguine exchanged physical and verbal blows in a lop-sided affair. The game between Augsburg and Iserlohn turned into a wild, 12-goal shootout.

Mannheim “without passion and pride”

Waite made 31 saves en route to his 10th career DEL shutout as ERC Ingolstadt blanked the Mannheim Adler 2-0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0) on the road. Thanks to several power-play opportunities, including a 28-second 5-on-3, the Adler dominated the first twenty minutes. But Waite stopped everything and also received help from the goal post when a wide-open Devin Edgerton hit the iron midway through the first. But the momentum turned as Ingolstadt got more and more confident. Adler netminder Marc Seliger, who stopped 29 out of 30 shots, had to showcase his goaltending skills again and again. The key play occurred at 11:46 of the final period when Justin Harney hammered a slapshot from the blueline past Seliger on the power-play. ERC defenseman Jakub Ficenec sealed the win with an empty-netter 35 seconds before the final buzzer.

“These are difficult times”, Adler coach Bill Stewart said. “We want to consider ourselves a top team, but don’t show that in the rink. We played without passion and pride tonight.”

“Both goalies put on a clinic tonight”, ERC coach Ron Kennedy added. “Every DEL team falls in a slump somewhere down the stretch. I hope we have that chapter behind us now. If Jimmy Waite keeps playing like this, he’ll be very valuable for us.”

Jonas, Berlin shutout Cologne

In Berlin, the Eisbären improved their home record to 8-0 with a convincing 5-0 (1-0, 3-0, 1-0). blanking of the Kölner Haie. Harvard product Oliver Jonas turned aside all 33 shots he faced for his third career DEL shutout, his first of the season. David Roberts scored the game-winning goal and two assists as Berlin put the game out of reach with three second-period scores.

The Eisbären wasted little time. Roberts forced a turnover inside the Haie blueline and sent the puck across to defenseman Micki Dupont who backhanded it towards the net from the right slot. Roberts somehow got his stick in there to redirect the shot past Haie goaltender Chris Rogles for the 1-0 lead just 3:21 into the tilt. Cologne had its opportunities, including an 80-second 5-on-3, but failed to get the puck past Jonas. On the end of the ice, Berlin’s efficient power-play produced back-to-back tallies from Denis Pederson and Rob Leask midway through the second. Yvon Corriveau’s first goal of the season extended the Eisbären lead to 4-0 with 5:31 to go in the period. Florian Keller found him alone in front of the goalmouth and Corriveau slid the puck through Rogles' five-hole. Defenseman Brad Bergen also scored his first of the season, connecting on a slightly deflected shot from the left point to cap the scoring at 5-0 3:47 into the final stanza.

Scored the GWG for Iserlohn: Scott King, son of Hamburg Freezers head coach Dave King Martin Jiranek tallied two goals for Nuremberg

Big melee in Hamburg – House: “Penguins acted like pussies”

Mark Greig tallied a pair of goals and an assist as the Hamburg Freezers skated past defending champs Krefeld Pinguine, 5-2 (2-0, 2-0, 1-2). The road loss marked Krefeld’s 10th straight game without a three-point (regulation) win. Greig opened the scoring on the man advantage 7:24 into the opening frame, tucking the rebound of Brad Purdie’s shot past Krefeld’s second-stringer Markus Janka. A goal from Bobby House and two more power-play tallies by Brad Purdie and defender Darren Van Impe gave Hamburg a comfortable 4-0 lead after two.

With the atmosphere already heated after an altercation between Eric Bertrand and Dave Tomlinson late in the second, emotions boiled over heading into the second intermission. For several minutes, helmets and equipment were flying all over the ice. Van Impe threw a straight punch at Krefeld’s Marc Beaucage. Rob Guillet came to his rescue, giving Van Impe a full facewash. A couple of feet down the ice, Bertrand and Tomlinson went into a rematch of their earlier bout. Both received match penalties and a one-game suspension. While Van Impe and Beaucage were ejected as well (game misconducts), Guillet was allowed to return for the final period.

Freezers forward Bobby House added a verbal blow in the local press: “It’s a shame to lose Darren and Dave because of this”, he said in the Hamburger Morgenpost. “The Penguins acted like pussies.”

After reshuffling the lines, the Pinguine were able to put on a little rally early in the final period and cut the lead in half on scores by Jonas Lanier and Terry Yake (PP). Greig sealed Hamburg’s win on an oddman rush with 1:28 left in regulation.

Augsburg folds in wild 12-goal shootout in Iserlohn

James Black tallied four assists as the Iserlohn Roosters scored six unanswered goals to erase a 4-2 deficit and crush the Augsburger Panther 8-4 (1-0, 2-4, 5-0). Iserlohn had a 2-0 lead early in the second after goals by Matt Higgins and Jason Cipolla. But Augsburg battled back and managed to turn the momentum. The Panther were up 4-2 at the game’s midway point after striking four times within a 3:30-span. They tied the game on goals by Xavier Delisle and Colin Beardsmore and then cashed in twice on the power-play. Arvids Rekis scored on the two-man advantage. Still up by a man, Beardsmore scored his second of the night to put Augsburg ahead 4-2 at 9:55 of the middle frame.

But Iserlohn managed to regroup after head coach Doug Mason called a time-out. Chris Straube’s tally with 5:18 to go in the period got the Roosters within a goal. Only 23 seconds into the final period, defenseman Erich Goldmann came up with the 4-4 equalizer, a goal that set the tone for the final twenty minutes. Iserlohn outshot Augsburg 23-4 in the final stanza (44-19 over three periods). Scott King scored the eventual game-winner on the power-play at the 12:54-mark. Augsburg managed to keep the game close. But helped by individual mistakes, the floodgates opened in the final three minutes. Bryan Adams, Lars Brüggemann and Cipolla added goals to give the Roosters an 8-4 win.

Frankfurt squanders two-goal lead

Pat Mikesch had a pair of assists as the Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars rallied from a two goal deficit late in the third-period to beat the Frankfurt Lions after penalty shootout, 3-2 (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 1-0) at home. Frankfurt was up 2-0 midway through the second after tallies from defensemen Jonas Stöpfgeshoffm and Peter Ratchuk. Stöpfgeshoff fooled DEG netminder Alexander Jung on a wrap-around. Ratchuk doubled the lead, beating Jung with a low wrister from the right hashmark on the two-man advantage. Frankfurt seemed en route to an easy win until Daniel Kreutzer scored with heavy traffic in front of Ian Gordon’s net at 15:08 of the final frame. Less than two minutes later, defenseman Martin Ulrich blasted home a screened left point shot for the 2-2 equalizer. Kreutzer then added the game-winning attempt in the penalty shootout to cap the Metro Stars’ comeback.

Freiburg shows great poise, but comes up short

Injury-troubled expansion team Freiburg Wölfe showed a lot of poise against the Hannover Scorpions. Missing seven regulars (Bedrich Scerban, Michael Vasicek, David Danner, Sergej Stas, Robert Paule, Alexander Makritsky and Petr Mares, Freiburg came up short by a goal though, losing 6-5 (2-1, 0-2, 3-3) on the road. Despite being outshot 53-26, Freiburg’s 14 skaters managed to score five times, led by a two-goal effort from Jiri Zelenka. Fredrik Öberg was Hanover’s leading scorer with two goals and one assist.

Jiranek scores twice in Tigers’ win

Martin Jiranek scored a pair of power-play goals as the Nürnberg Ice Tigers held on for a 5-3 (3-0, 0-2, 2-1) home victory over the Kassel Huskies. Nuremberg seemed to be in control after jumping out to a 3-0 first-period lead. Martin Jiranek scored from the right slot on the power-play to make it 1-0 6:40 into the contest. Less than a minute later, Craig Leeb found defender Stephane Julien alone in front of the goal crease and he doubled the lead, knocking home his own rebound. With just under four minutes to go in the first, Jiranek redirected a point shot from Julien past Huskies netminder Joaquin Gage. His second power-play tally of the night gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

“We actually had chances for two games,” Jiranek said. “But we let them crawl back into it.”

Second-period goals from Tobias Abstreiter and Paul Brousseau cut Nuremberg’s lead to 3-2 after two. The Tigers regained a two-goal lead when Craig Leeb found Vitalij Aab right on the doorstep 4:38 into the final stanza. Kassel closed the gap again when Henrik Wahlberg tallied with 2:41 left. But Steve Larouche sealed Nuremberg’s victory with an empty-netter.