Munich, Germany - League-leading goal scorer Daniel Kreutzer struck twice as the Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars stretched their unbeaten run to eight straight games Sunday. Mannheim and Krefeld also extended their win streaks and are on big-time upswings. Elsewhere, the first-place Berlin Eisbären could not snap their scoring funk and saw their cushion on top of the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) shrink to three points.

DEG Metro Stars win on controversial goal

Kreutzer scored the game-winner midway through the final period and added an empty-netter in the waning seconds as the DEG Metro Stars skated past ERC Ingolstadt 3-1 (0-0, 1-1, 2-0). The two tallies increased Kreutzer’s league-leading goal total to 17.

Kreutzer’s goal at 10:46 of the final stanza was very controversial though as a slash by Markus Pöttinger on goaltender Jimmy Waite’s stick went unnoticed by the officials just a split second before Kreutzer’s low wrister from the right face-off circle found the back of the net to give the visiting Metro Stars a 2-1 lead.

After a strong start, Ingolstadt took a 1-0 lead 7:47 into the middle frame when defenseman Ken Sutton faked a point shot and fed a wide-open Cameron Mann near the right goal post on the power-play. Mike Pellegrims, who also had two assists, scored from the left slot to even the score at 1 on the man advantage with 3:55 left in the second. Clayton Young, who spent six years with Ingolstadt in the late 90’s, also recorded a pair of assists for Düsseldorf.

3rd straight win for Mannheim, slumping Hanover in need of „wake-up call“

Tomas Martinec scored a pair of goals as the Mannheim Adler squandered a 2-0 lead but came back to beat the Hannover Scorpions on the road, 4-2 (2-0, 2-2, 0-0). While Mannheim recorded its third win in a row, Hanover has lost seven straight.

“Looking back on the losses to Nuremberg, Cologne or Mannheim, I think we have shown that we can play,” Scorpions head coach Gunnar Leidborg said. “It’s more of a mental problem right now and we need a serious wake-up call to solve it.”

Krefeld rallies for 4th straight win

Former Panther Rob Guillet scored the late game-tying goal and added the game-winning shot in the penalty shootout as the Krefeld Pinguine rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Augsburger Panther at home, 4-3 (2-1, 0-2, 1-0, 1-0). On the power-play, Pinguine blueliner Shayne Wright kept the puck in the zone and set up Alexander Selivanov near the goalmouth. Selivanov’s attempt was denied by Panther goalie Magnus Eriksson, but Guillet knocked home the rebound to knot the score at 3-3 with 9:15 to go in regulation.

Scoring funk continues, Berlin stumbles again - Melanson makes DEL debut

Berlin’s lead at the top of the standings has shrunk to three points after back-to-back overtime losses. The Eisbären could not snap their scoring funk. They only scored one goal in each of their last three games. Sunday, Berlin could not find a solution to Iserlohn Roosters netminder Michael Fountain. Despite outshooting their opponents 45-28, the Eisbären lost to the Roosters on the road, 2-1 (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0) after penalty shootout.

Iserlohn drew first blood 5:19 into the contest when Chris Bartolone blasted a point shot past Eisbären netminder Rich Parent on the man advantage. The Eisbären tied the score with a power-play goal of their own, when defenseman Rob Leask connected from the slot at 11:33 of the middle frame. After a scoreless third, Scott King converted the game-winning penalty shot for Iserlohn.

Roosters defender Dean Melanson, who was signed earlier this week, looked solid in his DEL debut.

Freiburg rallies, but falls short again

The second-place Frankfurt Lions narrowed the gap on Berlin to only three points. Jason Young scored a pair of early power-play goals and also had an assist as the Frankfurt Lions jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on for a 5-1 (3-0, 1-1, 1-3) home win over expansion team Freiburg Wölfe. DEL top scorer Pat Lebeau tallied four assists to up his point total to 36.

Down 5-1 early in the third, Freiburg put on a poised rally. Power-play goals from Vadim Slivchenko and Peter Korinek and a goal from Dany Bousquet cut Frankfurt’s lead to 5-4 with just over four minutes to go. But it was not enough to avoid their tenth consecutive game without a win.

Late comeback: Cologne’s win streak ends against Kassel

The Kölner Haie blew a two-goal lead and had their five-game win streak snapped by the Kassel Huskies in a 3-2 (1-0, 1-0, 0-3) home loss. Cologne had a 2-0 lead going into the third after two power-play tallies by Alex Hicks, but gave the game away in the final 20 minutes. Goals from Ted Crowley (PP) and Christian Retzer knotted the score at 2-2 midway through the period. Mikael Wahlberg capped Kassel’s comeback with a power-play goal 4:46 from the final horn.