Munich, Germany - Three days after getting whipped by the Düsseldorfer EG on the road, 6-2, the Munich Barons bounced back with an important home win. After squandering an early two-goal lead, the Barons overpowered fellow title-contender Krefeld Pinguine with a late rally, 5-3.

Wednesday's victory moved the Barons (36 points, 18 games) past Krefeld (35/18) and defending champion Mannheim Adler (36/20), who has dropped three straight. Cologne (43/22) continues to lead the league, with second-place Nuremberg trailing by four points (39/19).

Sloppy Sunday

Sloppy play cost Sunday's game: Despite outshooting the Düsseldorfer EG, Munich got handed a bitter 6-2 defeat. DEG's Craig Teeple led the charge, tallying a hat-trick. Derek Plante and Andy Schneider scored Munich's only goals as the Barons never managed to recover from falling behind 3-0 early in the third.

However the Barons showed poise and responded with a 5-3 win over Krefeld Wednesday night. After jumping out to a two-goal lead behind goals from Andrej Strakhov and Mike Kennedy, Munich allowed Krefeld to get back into it before the first intermission. Patrik Augusta cut the lead in half on the powerplay.

Late rally wins it

After the break, Krefeld turned the momentum. Jeff Christian came up with the 2-2-equalizer only 81 seconds into the period. Top scorer Brad Purdie gave his team its first lead of the night, 3-2, with less than five minutes to go in the second.

But Munich responded with a third-period rally. Back-to-back penalties gave the Barons a 5-on-3 advantage early in the period. Shane Peacock seized the opportunity to tie it up at three apiece on the powerplay. Just over a minute later, Simon Wheeldon reclaimed the lead on the one-man-advantage. Munich's leading scorer, Derek Plante capped the scoring at 5:3 with 12:52 left in regulation.

Düsseldorfer EG - Munich Barons 6-2 (1-0, 1-0, 4-2)
Scoring: 1-0 (11:54) Trond Magnussen (Mike Pellegrims, Tore Vikinstad - 5:4), 2-0 (28:20) Craig Teeple (Neil Eisenhut, Chris Bartolone - 5:3), 3-0 (40:21) Craig Teeple (Tim Leahy, Neil Eisenhut - 4:4), 3-1 (42:55) Derek Plante (Peter Douris, Shane Peacock - 5:4), 4-1 (43:34) Craig Teeple (Neil Eisenhut, Tim Leahy), 5-1 (45:14) Leo Stefan (Tore Vikinstad, Mike Pellegrims), 5-2 (51:20) Andy Schneider (David Oliver, Christoph Schubert - 5:4), 6-2 (53:43)Torsten Kienass (Tim Leahy, Neil Eisenhut).
Penalties: Düsseldorf 12, Munich 14.
Attendance: 5,400.

Munich Barons - Krefeld Pinguine 5-3 (2-1, 0-2, 3-0)
Scoring: 1-0 (10:22) Andrej Strakhov (Alexander Serikow, Thomas Dolak), 2-0 (12:06) Mike Kennedy (Andy Schneider, David Oliver), 2-1 (18:07) Patrik Augusta (Brad Purdie, Daniel Kunce - 5:4), 2-2 (21:21) Jeff Christian (Gary Shuchuk, Phil von Stefenelli), 2-3 (35:13) Brad Purdie (Mario Doyon, Robert Brezina), 3-3 (43:33) Shane Peacock (Kent Fearns, Derek Plante - 5:3), 4-3 (44:41) Simon Wheeldon (Johan Rosén, Andy Schneider - 5:4), 5-3 (47:08) Derek Plante (Derek King, Peter Douris).
Penalty Minutes: Munich 10, Krefeld 8.
Attendance: 2,562.