Munich, Germany - Defenseman Mirko Lüdemann assisted on all three goals as the Kölner Haie blanked their archrival DEG Metro Stars in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) Sunday. While the Frankfurt Lions were idle, the Berlin Eisbären now have a three-point cushion on top of the standings after a come-from-behind victory over the Kassel Huskies.

Halfway through the regular season, Berlin is (56 points) in sole possession of first place again. Frankfurt (53) is second. The Kölner Haie (46) moved into a third-place tie with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers (46), who lost to streaking ERC Ingolstadt (40), which is only two points away from a playoff spot after winning 10 out of its last 13 games. The Augsburger Panther (45), DEG Metro Stars (43), Mannheim Adler (43) and the slumping Hamburg Freezers (42) round out the top-8. While the Kassel Huskies (36), defending champion Krefeld Pinguine (35) and Iserlohn Roosters (32) might have a chance to sneak back into the playoff picture, the Hannover Scorpions (21) and Freiburger Wölfe (11) find themselves at the bottom of the table.

McLlwain scores league-leading 18th goal

With a capacity crowd of 10,179 on hand at Düsseldorf’s Brehmstrasse Arena, Clarkson-product Chris Rogles turned aside 17 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Kölner Haie skated to a 3-0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0) road win over the DEG Metro Stars. While Düsseldorf’s top scorer Daniel Kreutzer was held scoreless, Dave McLlwain took the sole lead in the goal scoring department with his 18th tally of the season. Just seconds after a penalty to Kreutzer expired, a diagonal feed from Lüdemann found McLlwain wide-open at the opposing goal post to put Cologne up 1-0. The Haie doubled their lead on the man advantage midway through the second period when Alex Hicks deflected Lüdemann’s shot from the center point past DEG netminder Alexander Jung.

An apparent score from Cologne’s Ron Pasco was disallowed after video review because of a goal crease violation. Referee Roland Aumüller had already been in the spotlight late in the first period when Kreutzer smashed his stick into Haie forward Sebastian Furchner’s face. While Furchner had to leave with a swollen neck, Kreutzer only received a cross-checking minor. A power-play goal from Haie defender Brad Schlegel capped the scoring at 3-0 1:29 from the final horn.

Sharp power-play: Eisbären rally for win

The Berlin Eisbären scored three straight power-play goals in the third period to rally from a 2-1 deficit and hold on for a 4-3 (1-0, 0-2, 3-1) home win over the Kassel Huskies. Defender Micki DuPont tallied two goals and an assist for the Eisbären, who scored all their goals on the power-play.

DuPont tied the score at two apiece with his second tally of the night on a two-man advantage 3:13 into the final stanza. Berlin’s go-ahead score at 6:21 of the third was very controversial: Kassel’s Jeff MacLeod got tripped up from behind deep in his own zone and Kelly Fairchild rifled the loose puck past Huskies goalie Joaquin Gage. Steve Walker put the game out of reach with just over three minutes to go, knocking home the rebound after a point shot from DuPont to make it 4-2.

Ficenec lifts Ingolstadt to derby win

Defenseman Jakub Ficenec scored on a great solo effort with under four minutes to go as ERC Ingolstadt edged the Nürnberg Ice Tigers on the road, 3-2 (1-1, 0-1, 2-0). Ficenec took the puck coast-to-coast and unleashed a shot just inside the blueline. The puck ricocheted off the backboards and Ficenec knocked it past Tigers goalie Frederic Chabot from the near left slot for the unassisted game-winning score at 15:37 of the final period.

Elsewhere…

René Corbet scored on the man advantage midway through the final period as the Mannheim Adler downed the Krefeld Pinguine at home, 2-1 (0-0, 1-1, 1-0). The margin should have been larger as Mannheim outshot Krefeld 50-13 over three periods. Pinguine goalie Robert Müller recorded 48 saves.

Xavier Delisle converted the game-winning shot as the visiting Augsburger Panther beat the Hannover Scorpions 4-3 (2-1, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0) after penalty shootout. The defeat extended Hanover’s winless streak to eleven games.

Expansion team Freiburger Wölfe even suffered its 14th consecutive loss. Bryan Adams led the way with a pair of goals and an assist as the Iserlohn Roosters blanked Freiburg 6-0 (2-0, 1-0, 3-0). Roosters goalie Mike Fountain turned aside 27 shots to record his first career DEL shutout.