Munich, Germany - The Hamburg Freezers are on top of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) for the first-time since the Munich Barons franchise was relocated to Hamburg last summer. Boris Rousson turned aside 28 shots and increased his league-leading shutout total to five as the Freezers blanked the Kassel Huskies at home Tuesday night. Elsewhere, the Nürnberg Ice Tigers wrestled down local rival ERC Ingolstadt.

Hamburg improved its record to 13-5 (37 points) and is one point ahead of the Berlin Eisbären (12-4), who have two games in hand though. The third-place Nürnberg Ice Tigers (12-5) trail Berlin by two points.

Goals from Wayne Hynes and Brad Purdie set the tone early on as the Hamburg Freezers shut out the Kassel Huskies 4-0 (2-0, 2-0, 0-0). Andy Schneider and Rene Röthke added second-period goals. The game was not as lop-sided as the score might imply, though. Rousson’s netminding, solid D and good scoring efficiency made the difference. Set up by defenseman Kent Fearns, Hynes beat Huskies goalie Jan Münster 1-on-0 8:40 into the contest. Purdie doubled the lead after a nifty backhand feed from Mark Greig at the 13:37-mark. Schneider scored the only power-play tally of the night, hammering a point blast past Münster two minutes into the middle frame. Hamburg’s youngest line capped the scoring at 4-0 7:45 into the second. Assisted by the Schröder twins, Stefan and Markus, Rene Röthke tallied his second goal of the season on an odd-man rush.

Marian Cisar notched a pair of goals and Steve Larouche added three assists as the Nürnberg Ice Tigers skated past ERC Ingolstadt. The 4-2 (1-0, 1-1, 2-1) road win ended Ingolstadt’s season-long two-game win streak.