Berlin came out buzzing right from the opening face-off. The Eisbären outshot Frankfurt 18-7 in the opening frame and 41-30 over three periods. Despite conceding five goals, goalie Ian Gordon had a fine night. He made 36 saves on the night and kept the Lions in the game until the final stanza. Rob Shearer put the game out of reach at 3-1 with his first goal of the postseason on a 5-on-3 power-play 5:01 into the third period.
Yvon Corriveau (3 assists), Mark Beaufait, Denis Pederson (1G, 1A each), Keith Aldridge, Kelly Fairchild (2A each) also had multiple-point nights for Berlin. Eisbären netminder Oliver Jonas turned aside 28 of the 30 shots he faced. Defender Peter Ratchuk was Frankfurt's best scorer with 2 A. The Eisbären went 5-for-8 on the man advantage while Frankfurt was 1-for-4 on the power-play.
Some of the infamous Eisbären fans among the capacity crowd of 4,698 at Berlin's Wellblechpalast spoiled the pre-game atmosphere when the playing of Germany's national anthem was delayed and then accompanied by whistles and communist chants of "Dynamo" and "East Germany".
DuPont gave Berlin a 1-0 lead on a screened wrister from the left point at 14:16 of the first when Frankfurt's David Sulkovsky was serving a kneeing penalty. The "Polar Bears" doubled their lead with under six minutes to go in the middle frame. With Michael Bresagk in the sin bin for roughing, Keith Aldridge made a nice effort to keep the puck inside the zone at the Lions blueline and passed it to Denis Pederson in the right slot. Pederson outwaited Gordon and went top shelf on his glove hand to make it 2-0 with 5:41 to go in the second period.
Two minutes later, DEL league MVP Pat Lebeau gave the Lions some hope. With the Lions on the power-play, Peter Ratchuk sped down the left wing. Lebeau deflected his centering feed over Oliver Jonas' shoulder to bring the Lions within a goal, 2-1, at 16:01 of the second.
Minor penalties to Lions defensemen Bresagk (roughing) and Sebastian Klenner (hooking) put the Eisbären on a 5-on-3 power-play early in the third. Rob Shearer ended his playoff scoring drought when a point shot from Kelly Fairchild deflected off Jason Young's skate to Shearer who ripped home a one-timer from the left face-off circle to put Berlin ahead 3-1 5:01 into the final frame.
Frankfurt's frustration was evident. Dwayne Norris was assessed a double minor after a trip on DuPont and ensuing cross-check to his head. The "Polar Bears" seized the opportunity and added two more power-play goals in the following three minutes, increasing their lead to 5-1. DuPont connected on a one-timer from the center point at 7:38. Just seconds later, Mark Beaufait re-directed Fairchild's shot from the right point past Gordon to make it 5-1 at 8:08 of the third period. Frankfurt cut the lead to 5-2 when David Gosselin scored off the rebound of a blueline blast by Francois Bouchard with 7:51 to go, but it was too little, too late.
Box score------------------------------------
Frankfurt 0 1 1 --2
Berlin 1 1 3 --5
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Scoring Summary: 1st Period
Berlin 14:17, Micki DuPont 1 (power-play) (Keith Aldridge, Yvon Corriveau)
2nd Period
Berlin 14:19 Denis Pederson 1 (power-play) (Keith Aldridge, Yvon Corriveau)
Frankfurt 16:07 Pat Lebeau 1 (power-play) (Peter Ratchuk, Francois Bouchard)
3rd Period
Berlin 05:01 Rob Shearer 1 (power-play 5-on-3) (Mark Beaufait, Kelly Fairchild)
Berlin 07:38 Micki DuPont 2 (power-play) (Denis Pederson, Yvon Corriveau)
Berlin 08:08 Mark Beaufait 1 (power-play) (Kelly Fairchild, Steve Walker)
Frankfurt 12:09 David Gosselin (Paul Stanton, Peter Ratchuk)
Shots on goal:
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Frankfurt 7 13 10 --30
Berlin 18 13 10 --41
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Power-play Conversions: Frankfurt - 1 of 4, Berlin - 5 of 8.
Goalies : Frankfurt, Ian Gordon (41 shots, 36 saves). Berlin, Oliver Jonas (30 shots, 28 saves).
Attendance: 4,698 (Wellblechpalast, Berlin).
Referees: Willy Schimm (Waldkraiburg). Linesmen: Gregor Brodnicki, Thomas Gemeinhardt.
Penalty Summary: 1st Period
Berlin charging – 2 min R. Leask 5:12
Berlin boarding – 2 min, R. Leask 10:25
Frankfurt kneeing – 2 min, D. Sulkovsky 13:33
Frankfurt high sticking – 2 min, F. Bouchard 17:11
2nd Period
Frankfurt hooking – 2 min, D. Peters10:10
Frankfurt roughing – 2 min, M. Bresagk12:47
Berlin tripping – 2 min, R. Leask 14:59
3rd Period
Frankfurt roughing – 2 min, M. Bresagk 3:31
Frankfurt hooking – 2 min, S. Klenner 4:37
Frankfurt tripping – 2 min, D. Norris 6:15
Frankfurt cross-checking – 2 min, D. Norris 7:38
Berlin high sticking – 2 min, R. Shearer 8:08
Berlin roughing – 2 min, F. Keller 12:09
Frankfurt roughing – 2 min, P. Stanton 12:09
Frankfurt tripping – 2 min, D. Peters 18:07
Frankfurt misconduct – 10 min, D. Peters 18:07
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