Munich, Germany - Defending DEL champions Krefeld Pinguine have their backs to the wall after getting thumped by the Hamburg Freezers Thursday night. Krefeld suffered its six straight loss and is closer than ever to a spot in the relegation round.

Mark Greig led the way with a goal and three assists as the Hamburg Freezers pounded the Krefeld Pinguine 7-2 (0-1, 3-0, 4-1) at ColorLine Arena. An early goal by Adrian Grygiel had the Penguins up 1-0 at the first intermission. The momentum shifted when Hamburg scored three goals in just over three minutes early in the middle frame, capped by Jacek Plachta’s tally at 8:54, the game’s only power-play goal which also turned out to be the game-winner.

Only because of a better goal differential, Krefeld remains slightly ahead of the 13th-place Hannover Scorpions, who would have to face the last-place Freiburg Wölfe in a seven-game relegation series if the regular season ended today. Both teams got a preview of each other Friday. All-Star forward Patrik Augusta notched a goal and two assists as Hanover cruised to a 5-1 (1-0, 3-0, 1-1) victory over the hapless Wolves.

Big wins for Iserlohn and Ingolstadt

The Iserlohn Roosters are already 8 points ahead of Krefeld and Hanover. Jason Cipolla and Matt Higgins each recorded a goal and an assist as the Roosters held on for a 4-3 (4-2, 0-1, 0-0) home win over the Augsburger Panther.

Doug Ast scored a hat trick as ERC Ingolstadt came from behind to upset the Mannheim Adler on the road, 3-2 (0-0, 1-1, 2-1). ERC defenseman Yves Racine, who was cut by Mannheim earlier in the season, recorded two assists. Ast scored the game-winning goal on a wrap-around with 2:56 left, the only power-play score of the contest.

Jonas, Gordon, Chabot register shutouts

Mark Beaufait scored the only goal as the Berlin Eisbären swept the four-game season series against the Kölner Haie with a 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0) home win. Beaufait’s goal came on the first power-play of the night, only 3:24 into the game. Oliver Jonas stopped 31 shots en route to his fourth shutout.

Jesse Belanger scored a pair of goals as the Frankfurt Lions blanked the DEG Metro Stars on the road, 6-0 (1-0, 2-0, 3-0). Ian Gordon turned aside 26 shots for his second shutout of the season.

The third shutout of the night occurred in Nuremberg where the Nürnberg Ice Tigers skated to a 3-0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0) win over the Kassel Huskies. Frederic Chabot turned aside 23 saves for his second shutout. Marian Cisar’s goal at 2:43 of the second, his 22nd of the season, turned out to be the game-winner. He beat Jan Münster on a 2-on-1 odd-man rush with Steve Larouche.