Munich, Germany - With Nuremberg idle, the Kölner Haie climbed to the top of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga standings with a late come-from-behind win over Augsburg Sunday. Elsewhere, Butch Goring's DEG Metro Stars put themselves back in the playoff picture, winning on the road against Wolfsburg after a four-goal third period. In Kassel, the Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak with a home win over the slumping Krefeld Pinguine.

Former Panther Colin Beardsmore scored with 3:03 remaining to lift the Kölner Haie to a 2-1 (0-0, 0-1, 2-0) road win over the Augsburger Panther. After a slow and scoreless opening frame, Cologne took control in the second, helped by back-to-back penalty calls against Augsburg. The Haie failed to convert though and even fell behind 1-0 when Augsburg's Steve Bancroft beat Chris Rogles on a short-handed breakaway. A five minute cross-checking major plus game misconduct against Panther forward Manuel Kofler put Cologne in position to tie the score at 1-1 midway through the final stanza. Dave McLlwain re-directed a shot by Stephane Julien past J.F. Labbé on the ensuing power-play. With the game going back-and-forth, Beardsmore notched the game-winner with just over three minutes to go when his hard shot found its way past Labbé. Augsburg pressed for the equalizer, but two shots that bounced off the framework was as close as the Panthers got.

Daniel Kreutzer and defenseman Jeff Tory each tallied two goals and a helper as the DEG Metro Stars scored four third-period goals to down Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg on the road, 6-3 (1-1, 1-1, 4-1). Ivan Ciernik had a pair of goals for Wolfsburg.

Daniel Corso's goal at 10:27 of the third went down as the game-winner as the Kassel Huskies jumped out to a 4-2 lead and held off a late rally to edge the Krefeld Pinguine 4-3 (1-1, 1-1, 2-1). The home win ended a three game losing streak for Kassel.