Munich, Germany - With 12 games left in the regular season, ERC Ingolstadt moved back into the playoff ranks with a big home win over the Hamburg Freezers Sunday night. The seventh-place Augsburger Panther also gained ground on the ninth-place DEG Metro Stars, who were overpowered by the league-leading Berlin Eisbären at home. Elsewhere in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) on gameday 40, the Iserlohn Roosters spoiled the debut of Mannheim’s new head coach Helmut de Raaf. In Hanover, 4,000 people were sent home because of terrible ice quality at Preussag Arena.

Ingolstadt stops Hamburg’s four-game win streak

Jimmy Waite turned aside 20 shots en route to his seventh shutout as ERC Ingolstadt blanked the Hamburg Freezers 2-0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0). Thanks to a roughing major against Brad Burym and a hooking minor against Jakub Ficenec, Hamburg spent seven of the first nine minutes of the game on the power-play, but failed to cash in. Sparked by their strong penalty-killing, Ingolstadt took over halfway through the opening frame. With less than two minutes to go in the first, Günter Oswald knocked home the rebound of a shot from Niki Mondt to put Ingolstadt up 1-0. They doubled their lead at 5:26 of the second when Sean Tallaire converted a nice behind-the-net feed from Cameron Mann.

Berlin too much for DEG Metro Stars

3-1 (1-1, 2-0, 0-0). Berlin’s Rich Parent got beaten by the first shot he faced, but kept his cage clean for the rest of the day, stopping 27 shots. Just 42 seconds into the contest, Daniel Kreutzer’s feed from behind the net found Jeff Tory in the slot and he went top shelf to put the Metro Stars up 1-0. Düsseldorf dominated the opening 20 minutes, but could not find the back of the net again. The momentum turned when the Eisbären knotted the score at 1-1 with only nine seconds left in the first. Denis Pederson rifled a feed from Rob Shearer past Andrej Trefilov. Berlin took a 2-1 lead at the 5:21-mark of the middle frame when Alex Barta tucked home the rebound after a one-timer by Keith Aldridge on the man advantage. Ricard Persson extended the lead to 3-1 on his second power-play goal in as many games, lifting the puck under the crossbar from the near right slot.

Black strikes twice as Iserlohn spoils de Raaf’s debut

The Iserlohn Roosters spoiled the debut of new Adler head coach Helmut de Raaf. James Black scored a pair of goals as Iserlohn rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to down the Mannheim Adler 3-2 (2-2, 0-0, 1-0) on the road. Black’s linemates Scott King and Bryan Adams assisted on both goals. Mannheim was awarded two penalty shots, but failed to score on either.

Mannheim had a 2-0 lead midway through the first. Rene Corbet opened the scoring only 3:12 into the contest, knocking home a rebound on the man advantage. Then Tomas Martinec was wrestled down on a breakaway, but Robert Hock failed to double Mannheim’s lead on the ensuing penalty shot. Todd Hlushko was more successful a minute later when his shot beat Roosters netminder Dimitrij Kotschnew. Iserlohn evened the score at 2-2 before the first intermission on back-to-back power-play goals by Black and Dave Cooper. After a scoreless second, the Roosters came out flying in the third and got rewarded when Black found the back of the net after a pass from Adams with 6:38 left. With only three seconds to go, Cooper knocked the Roosters net off the moorings and the Adler got their second penalty shot of the night. This time, Andy Roach tried his luck but was also denied by Kotschnew.

Ice troubles in Hanover

The game between the Hannover Scorpions and the Nürnberg Ice Tigers was cancelled because of terrible ice quality at Hanover’s Preussag Arena. The ice was severely damaged after a handball game the day before and the puck was never dropped. 4,000 spectators were sent home about 90 minutes after the scheduled face-off time. After two seasons in the 12,000-seat state-of-the-art venue, the Scorpions had returned to their old home, the much smaller and older Mellendorf Ice House, during the off-season. Just two weeks ago, the Scorpions worked out a new lease with the Arena company which sealed the team’s immediate return to the Preussag Arena.

Elsewhere in the DEL on Sunday

Defenseman Jonas Stöphgeshoff notched a pair of goals and Martin Reichel had a goal and two assists as the Frankfurt Lions skated past the Kassel Huskies 5-2 (1-1, 3-0, 1-1).

Shawn Carter led the way with a pair of goals and an assist as the Augsburger Panther routed the Freiburg Wölfe 8-2 (2-2, 5-0, 1-0).

Jeremy Adduono had two goals and a helper as the Kölner Haie bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to down the slumping Krefeld Pinguine 5-2 (0-2, 5-0, 0-0).