Defenseman Keith Aldridge scored the lone goal of the night as the Berlin Eisbären blanked the Hamburg Freezers 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0) on the road. Oliver Jonas made 22 saves en route to his second shutout. Freezers goalie Boris Rousson also stopped 22 shots, including a second-period penalty shot from Berlin’s Kelly Fairchild. In front of a sell-out crowd of 12,759 at Hamburg’s ColorLine Arena, Aldridge scored on the game’s first power-play opportunity just 4:33 into the contest. With Freezers forward Jacek Plachta in the sin bin for tripping, Aldridge ripped home a shot on a pass from Fairchild for his third goal of the season.
“The Eisbären are the best team in the league”, said Freezers head coach Dave King. “Games between these two teams are always close. We have to take advantage of our power-play opportunities.” Hamburg was 0 for 6 on the man advantage.
Wild shootout in CologneZdenek Nedved’s hat trick was not enough as the visiting Hannover Scorpions squandered a 3-0 lead and lost 8-6 (0-3, 4-1, 4-2) to the Kölner Haie in a wild shootout in front of 13,233 at the KölnArena. Tino Boos notched a pair of power-play goals for the Haie, including the game-winner with 8:30 to go in regulation. After a poor first period, it was Boos who got the Haie on the scoreboard on the power-play 1:23 into the middle frame. Hanover regained a three-goal lead midway through the period when Nedved scored his third goal and second power-play tally of the night. But the Haie put on an amazing rally to turn the momentum late in the second period. Jeff Dessner, Ron Pasco and Jean-Yves Roy each scored even-strength goals within a 72-second span to tie the score at 4-4 heading into the second intermission.
Cologne seemed in control when goals from Boris Blank and Dave McLlwain made it 6-4 in favor of the Haie early in the third. However, Hanover responded with back-to-back goals. Markus Akerblom and Jeff Christian scored just 25 seconds apart to knot the score at six apiece at 9:33 of the third. But Boos’ second power-play score of the night and a short-handed goal from Eduard Lewandowski with 1:06 left lifted the Haie to their fourth-straight win.
Mannheim, Krefeld get much-needed winsAfter dropping five of their last six, the Mannheim Adler got a much-need win on the road. Defender Andy Roach and forward Robert Hock each recorded two points as the Adler ended ERC Ingolstadt’s four-game win streak with a 5-2 (0-0, 3-1, 2-1) road victory. After a scoreless first, Mannheim jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half of the middle frame on scores by Rene Corbet, Steve Junker (PP) and Mike Kennedy. Defenseman Justin Harney brought Ingolstadt within a goal with a late second-period power-play goal. But tallies from Roach and Jason Podollan put the game away before Ingolstadt’s Glenn Goodall added a late consolation goal on the man advantage.
Defending champion Krefeld Pinguine is on a little streak. Rob Guillet and Marc Beaucage scored first-period power-play goals as the Pinguine blanked the Iserlohn Roosters 2-0 (2-0, 0-0, 0-0) on the road. Robert Müller stopped 34 shots for his third shutout.