Lions win with scoring by committeeThe absence of league-leading scorer Pat Lebeau (shoulder) and a point-less game from Jesse Belanger could not slow down the high-scoring Frankfurt Lions. They relied on scoring by committee and rallied from a two-goal second-period deficit to beat the Nürnberg Ice Tigers on the road, 5-3 (1-1, 2-2, 2-0).
With 38 points, Frankfurt (13-6) is on top of the DEL table, one point ahead of Nuremberg and Hamburg (both also with a 13-6 record). The Berlin Eisbären (12-5, 36pts) are in fourth place and have two games in hand over Frankfurt.
Jason Young fooled Ice Tigers netminder Alfie Michaud on a wrap-around 8:08 into the final period to give the Lions a 4-3 advantage, their first lead of the night. Young backhanded the puck, which hit the shaft of Michaud’s stick and bounced into the net. Christian Kohmann’s tally with 8:24 left put the game out of reach.
The Ice Tigers seemed headed for an easy win when Marian Cisar scored on a delayed penalty call to give Nuremberg a 3-1 lead at 11:50 of the second period. Vitalij Aab had opened the scoring on the man advantage 1:39 into the contest when his shot was re-directed into the net by the skate of Lions defenseman Sebastian Klenner. Frankfurt’s Martin Reichel notched the 1-1 equalizer on the power-play midway through the first, tucking home the rebound after a point shot by Francois Bouchard. Nuremberg regained a 2-1 lead when Robert Tomik knocked home Petr Fical’s feed on the power-play early in the middle frame.
But two quick scores by the Lions turned the momentum within a 67-second span late in the second period. First, Mike Harder ripped a low wrister from the right face-off circle past Michaud’s stick side. Then defenseman Mikael Magnussen hammered a bad-angle shot under the crossbar to tie the contest at 3-3 with 4:05 left in the second.
Waite, Ingolstadt shut out KrefeldDoug Ast scored a hat trick and defenseman Jakub Ficenec notched a pair of goals as ERC Ingolstadt blanked defending champions Krefeld Pinguine at home, 5-0 (1-0, 2-0, 2-0). All five goals were scored on the power-play. Sean Tallaire and Cameron Mann each added three assists. Goaltender Jimmy Waite turned aside 25 shots en route to his second shutout.
“It was a super weekend for us”, said ERC head coach Ron Kennedy. After winning four of its last five games, Ingolstadt (7-10, 22pts) is only four points away from a playoff spot. “Our power-play was very good tonight. We also scored twice on the man advantage in Friday’s win over Freiburg. The new line with Ast, Mann and Tallaire is clicking very well. That was the key to tonight’s win.”
Ingolstadt wasted little time. Ficenec scored on a point shot on the first power-play opportunity of the night 2:41 into the contest. At the 3:36-mark of the second period, Ficenec blasted a one-timer past Krefeld’s Robert Müller to double the lead. Ast’s first tally of the night put the game out of reach midway through the middle frame.
“We looked ok on 5-on-5,” Pinguine coach Butch Goring remarked. “But we’ve been struggling on the penalty kill lately. That has cost us a lot of games, which is very frustrating.”
Boos strikes twice as Cologne downs AugsburgTino Boos scored back-to-back third period goals to lift the Kölner Haie to a 4-1 (1-0, 0-1, 3-0) home win over the Augsburger Panther. Boris Blank notched his first goal of the season to give the Haie an early lead. Coming out of the penalty box, Augsburg’s Arvids Rekis tied the game with a breakaway goal late in the second. But led by Boos’ two tallies, the Haie put the game out of reach within a 3:06-span early in the third. Boos made it 2-1 on a short-handed odd-man rush 5:12 into the final stanza. He struck again on the power-play at the eight-minute mark. Andreas Morczinietz added a goal only 18 seconds later to cap the scoring at 4-1 with 11:42 to go.
Mannheim ends losing streak with shutoutJason Podollan and defender Sascha Goc each scored a pair of power-play goals as the Mannheim Adler ended their three-game losing streak with a 6-0 (3-0, 1-0, 2-0) home win over the last-place Freiburg Wölfe. Adler netminder Richard Shlumistra made 22 saves for his second shutout of the season.
Mannheim started out strong and outshot Freiburg 23-7 in the opening twenty minutes (52-22 over three periods). Youngster Christoph Ullmann opened the scoring on a wrap-around 3:11 into the contest. The Adler doubled the lead just two minutes later when Goc rifled home a slapshot on the two-man advantage. With under seven minutes left in the period, Podollan skated past defenseman Rudi Gorgenländer and ripped a hard shot past Wölfe goalie Hugo Haas on the power-play to give Mannheim a commanding 3-0 lead at the first intermission. The game slowed down a little in the second. Podollan scored the only goal of the period on the man advantage. Goc with his second power-play tally of the night and Klaus Kathan rounded out the scoring in the third.
Düsseldorf, Kassel winElsewhere, Pat Mikesch tallied a goal and two assists as the Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars held on for a 4-3 (2-1, 1-1, 1-1) road win over the Iserlohn Roosters.
After squandering a two-goal lead, Rob Busch converted the game-winning attempt as the Kassel Huskies edged the Hannover Scorpions on the road, 4-3 (0-1, 3-0, 0-2, 1-0) after penalty shootout. With an extra attacker on the ice, a tally from Len Soccio had forced the game into OT 1:39 before the end of regulation.
"Deutschland Cup" breakEurope's hockey leagues will take a two-week break as several international hockey tournaments will be played as part of the national teams' preparation for upcoming World championships at the junior and senior levels.
The "Deutschland Cup" in Hanover is one of several November tournaments. Four nations, Canada, USA, Switzerland and Germany, will compete in round-robin play at the Preussag Arena November 7-9. Canada enters this event as defending champion.
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