Munich, Germany - Frankfurt Lions goalie Ian Gordon had shut the door on the Kölner Haie for over 210 minutes. But the floodgates opened when the series headed back to KölnArena Friday night. Sparked by Dave McLlwain's injury comeback, the Haie put on a six-goal rout to stay alive for at least one more game. Elsewhere in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) playoffs, Andy Roach scored in OT to force a sixth game in the first-round series between the Mannheim Adler and Hamburg Freezers. Red-hot ERC Ingolstadt smells upset after its third straight win against the Nürnberg Ice Tigers. The relegation series is over: The Hannover Scorpions defeated the Freiburg Wölfe in five games and will stay in the league.

McLlwain leads six-goal rout – Haie lose Adduono

With their emotional leader back in the rink, the Kölner Haie looked like a different team Friday. Returning from a three-week absence due to a partly torn MCL, Dave McLlwain led the way with a goal and two assists as the Haie routed the Frankfurt Lions 6-2 (4-0, 0-2, 2-0) at home.

The 5th-seeded Lions lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and could eliminate the 4th-seeded Haie with a home win Sunday.

Having been shut out for three consecutive games, Cologne came out firing on all cylinders. The Haie jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the 11:34-mark of the opening period. Frankfurt showed signs of a comeback with a pair of second-period goals. But Boris Blank scored on an odd-man-rush with McLlwain to put the game out of reach at 5-2 early in the third.

"They were a lot better in one-on-one battles", Lions coach Rich Chernomaz said. "The game was over after ten minutes. I always stressed that the Haie are a tough team and that this series ain't far from over. We gotta play a lot more physical Sunday."

Backed by a crowd of 14,320, the Haie got some lucky bounces early on. On the first power-play of the night, a point shot from defender Brad Schlegel ricocheted off the backboards. The puck dribbled through a crowd to Mirko Lüdemann who jammed it home from the goalmouth to give Cologne a 1-0 lead 2:33 into the contest. The Haie doubled their lead another two-and-a-half minutes later when McLlwain skated around the Lions net and beat Gordon with a backhanded wrap-around shot. Just 35 seconds later, Andreas Morczinietz knocked the puck down out of mid-air with his right glove and poked it home from the doorstep to put the Haie up 3-0 at the 5:43-mark. Jeremy Adduono added a fourth goal when he tucked home the rebound after a mighty shot by Mickey Elick from the left point.

Frankfurt got on the scoreboard 6:58 into the middle stanza when a screened point shot from defenseman Francois Bouchard sailed past Haie goalie Chris Rogles. Cologne suffered another setback when Adduono was hit in the face by a teammate and had to be taken to a hospital with a suspected broken nose and cheek bone. With the momentum on their side, the Lions cut the lead in half when Pat Lebeau skated across the neutral zone and ripped a hard slapshot from just inside the blueline past Rogles' glove hand 2:14 before the second intermission.

The Haie put the game away 2:58 into the third period. They sprung a 2-on-1 breakaway when Lions defender Pete Ratchuk turned over the puck at the opposing blue line. McLlwain played a nifty backhand pass to Blank who also used his backhand to move the puck around Gordon's left pad, giving Cologne a 5-2 lead. A power-play goal from Eddie Lewandowski capped the scoring at 6-2 with 3:01 left. He skated out of the right corner and beat Gordon top-shelf.

Seliger gets 2nd shutout, keeps Mannheim alive

Defenseman Andy Roach scored at 10:17 of the first overtime period to lift the 6th-seeded Mannheim Adler to a 1-0 (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0) road victory over the 3rd-seeded Hamburg Freezers. Mannheim's second road shutout win of the series cut Hamburg's series lead to 3-2. Adler netminder Marc Seliger made 27 saves for his second playoff shutout.

A sellout crowd of 12,759 at Hamburg's Color Line Arena saw a tight battle. There was no scoring in regulation thanks to great goaltending at both ends. Freezers goalie Boris Rousson had 29 saves on the night.

Roach's game-winner came halfway through the overtime period. Boris Rousson denied Mike Kennedy on a wrap-around attempt, but the puck bounced right to Andy Roach who buried it from close range to keep Mannheim alive for at least one more game. The series shifts back to Mannheim for Game 6.

Ingolstadt out"Waites" Nuremberg again

Goaltending made the difference as 7th-seeded ERC Ingolstadt stunned the 2nd-seeded Nürnberg Ice Tigers 3-2 (2-1, 0-0, 1-1) on the road. Jimmy Waite once again proved to be a valuable backbone for Ingolstadt with 31 saves. Nuremberg's Frederic Chabot, the league's hottest goalie coming into the postseason, continued to struggle and was once again pulled for backup Alfie Michaud.

Ingolstadt has bounced back from a 2-0 series deficit to take a 3-2 lead and can wrap up the series at home Sunday.

Ingolstadt was nursing a 2-1 lead midway through the final period when the Tigers turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Doug Ast sped along the left boards and unleashed a slapshot from the top of the left face-off circle that sailed just past Chabot's outstretched glove to give Ingolstadt a 3-1 lead with 10:00 to go. Nuremberg put on a rally. Tigers head coach Greg Poss send on an extra attacker to create a 6-on-4 power-play with five minutes to go. Vitalij Aab struck from the slot to bring the Tigers within one at 16:31, but Ingolstadt protected the one-goal lead.

Nuremberg drew first blood when Steve Larouche scored just 3:03 into the contest. The momentum shifted when Ingolstadt scored back-to-back power-play goals late in the opening frame. Defenseman Jakub Ficenec tied the score with his fourth goal of the playoffs, blasting a center point shot past Chabot at 14:16. Three minutes later, Mike Stevens scored off the rebound of a shot by Günter Oswald to put Ingolstadt ahead 2-1 at the first intermission.

Back-to-back shutouts for Kauhanen – Hannover stays, Freiburg relegated

Jeff Christian scored the only goal of the night on a 5-on-3 power-play as the Hannover Scorpions landed a series-clinching Game 5 win over the Freiburg Wölfe in the "Playdown Series". Scorpions goaltender Ilpo Kauhanen stopped 28 shots for his second straight shutout as Hanover prevailed 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0) in front of 5,213 at Preussag Arena. The Finn was coming off a mind-boggling 56-save shutout in Tuesday's 4-0 road win.

The Hannover Scorpions will stay in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) for the 2004-05 season while the Freiburg Wölfe will be relegated to Division-2 after a one-year stint in Germany's Elite League.