The Frankfurt Lions also got shut out and lost second-place to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers. The race for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs is still wide open. Nuremberg only has a four-point cushion over the 7th-place Mannheim Adler. With only two games remaining, six teams still have the chance to end up among the top-4.
Berlin claims top seed againAndrej Trefilov made 32 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the DEG Metro Stars blanked the first-place Berlin Eisbären on the road, 1-0 (0-0, 0-0, 1-0). While the “Polar Bears” went 0 for 6 on the man advantage, the Stars cashed in on their final power-play opportunity when defenseman Jeff Tory rifled a point shot past Rich Parent with 8:04 left in the third.
Berlin grabbed the top seed in the DEL playoffs for the second straight season and the third time in team history after 1998 and 2003.
Ingolstadt stuns HamburgERC Ingolstadt rebounded from two losses with a big road win at Hamburg's Color Line Arena. Doug Ast had a goal and an assist as Ingolstadt stunned the Hamburg Freezers 3-1 (1-1, 2-0, 0-0). Stopping 28 of 29 shots, Jimmy Waite was the backbone of Ingolstadt’s success. Ingolstadt drew first blood at 7:02 of the first. Doug Ast sped down the right wing and backhanded the puck to Alexander Polaczek who – just out of the penalty box - batted it past Christian Künast out of mid-air. Hamburg tied the score at 1-1 two minutes later with the only power-play goal of the afternoon when Shane Peacock hammered a blast from the left point past the screened Waite.
Ingolstadt reclaimed a 2-1 lead early in the middle frame. After a one-handed backhand feed from behind the net by Günter Oswald, Doug Ast skated around diving Freezers goalie Christian Künast and lifted the puck into the net. The Freezers had their opportunities, too. Dave Tomlinson was robbed by Waite on a 1-on-0 late in the first. Late in the second, Hamburg failed to take advantage of an 80-second two-man advantage. Instead, Ingolstadt struck again in the final minute of the second. Jakub Ficenec sent Thomas Schinko on a breakaway with a nice outlet pass. Schinko lifted a backhand shot over Künast’s glove hand to make it 3-1 with 0:53 left in the second..
.jpg) .jpg) Off to Switzerland: Iserlohn’s Mike Fountain (top) and Krefeld’s Rob Guillet (below) |
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Bousquet scores 2nd DEL hat trickLeague-leading goal scorer Dany Bousquet tallied a hat trick and an assist as the last-place Freiburg Wölfe routed the Augsburger Panther 8-4 (3-2, 1-1, 4-1). Sergej Stas contributed four assists.
Gage gets first shutoutJoaquin Gage made 30 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Kassel Huskies blanked the Frankfurt Lions 2-0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0). Brent Peterson and Jeff MacLeod scored power-play goals for Kassel. Paul Brousseau assisted on both scores.
Defender Liam Garvey scored a pair of goals in the Nürnberg Ice Tigers’ 4-1 (0-0, 3-1, 1-0) win over the Hannover Scorpions.
Mannheim crushes Iserlohn, Fountain off to SwitzerlandDevin Edgerton led the way with two goals and two assists as the Mannheim Adler skated to a 5-2 (1-0, 3-1, 1-1) road victory against the Iserlohn Roosters. Teammate Steve Junker also tallied a pair of goals.
Goaltender Mike Fountain, who posted two shutouts, a .899 save percentage and 3.19 GAA in 34 games for the Roosters this season, won’t be available for Iserlohn’s final two games. Fountain, who was not offered a contract extension in Iserlohn, signed with HC Lugano of the Swiss Elite League.
Haie win, lose McLlwain – Guillet also Swiss-boundAndreas Morczinietz scored the GWG and an assist as the Kölner Haie downed the Krefeld Pinguine 4-1 (1-1, 2-0, 1-0). The victory came at a high price, though, as Cologne lost veteran center Dave McLlwain. He will be out approximately two weeks with a partly torn MCL in his right knee.
Krefeld’s Rob Guillet is also off to Switzerland. The Canadian forward, who ranked second on the team in scoring with 24 goals and 16 assists in 44 games for the Penguins, was acquired by HC Davos.
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