Munich, Germany - Just 48 hours after its series-clinching road win at Cologne, red-hot ERC Ingolstadt shocked Olaf Kolzig and the Berlin Eisbären in Game 1 of their DEL semifinal series at Berlin's Wellblechpalast Friday. The other semifinal series in the German Elite League started with an upset, too, as Eric Healey lifted the Mannheim Adler to a rare road victory over archrival Frankfurt Lions.

Ingolstadt scores five goals on Kolzig

Riding on the momentum of Wednesday night's Game 7 win over the Kölner Haie, 5th-seeded ERC Ingolstadt skated to its first-ever road win over the 2nd-seeded Berlin Eisbären to take a 1-0 lead in their DEL semifinal series. Defenseman Chris Armstrong led the way with a goal and two assists as Ingolstadt jumped out to a 4-1 second-period lead and never looked back in a 5-3 (1-0, 3-1, 2-1) win. The best-of-five series moves to Ingolstadt for Sunday's Game 2.

Eisbären goalie Olaf Kolzig looked a little off in his return from a knee injury, allowing five goals on the 25 shots he faced. Winning netminder Jimmy Waite of ERC Ingolstadt recorded 35 stops on the night.

Berlin came out buzzing. A shot from Sven Felski was denied by the goalpost just seconds into the contest. Ingolstadt was more successful on its first scoring chance. Andy McDonald skated around the Eisbären net and sent the puck back to the right point where Aaron Ward unleashed a mighty slapper. The puck rebounded off Eisbären netminder Olaf Kolzig and Jamie Langenbrunner was left all alone between the hashmarks to knock it home, giving Ingolstadt a 1-0 lead just 1:14 into the tilt.

The early goal slowed down the Eisbären. The visitors doubled their lead to 2-0 early in the middle frame. Cameron Mann took a pass from Doug Ast, rushed through the neutral zone, shook off defender Ricard Persson and beat Kolzig with a low shot to the stickside 2:14 in. Berlin had a quick response this time. Kelly Fairchild scored from the slot after a behind-the-net feed by Mark Beaufait to get the "Polar Bears" on the board 40 seconds later, 2-1. But the momentum continued to go Ingolstadt's way.

Following Doug Ast's offensive zone face-off win, Armstrong threw a high backhand shot on net from the right boards. The puck sailed over a couple of players heads and past the screened Kolzig to make it 3-1 in favor of Ingolstadt at the 4:11-mark. Things got even worse for Berlin. Christoph Melischko fooled Kolzig on a wrap-around to extend the lead to 4-1 at 7:47 of the second.

An early third-period goal gave the Eisbären a little bit of hope. Derrick Walser scored from the doorstep after ERC goalie Jimmy Waite mishandled a shot by Rob Shearer from the center point to make it 4-2 3:28 into the final stanza. Berlin kept pressing, outshooting Ingolstadt 17-4 in the third period alone (38-25 over three periods). But the visitors remained sharp. ERC defender Aaron Ward beat the hapless Kolzig on another wraparound attempt to put the game out of reach at 5-2 midway through the period. Berlin managed one more goal: Beaufait scored on a two-man advantage with 1:43 remaining to round out the scoring at 5-3.

Mannheim: Revenge for season sweep

After being swept in the four-game regular season series, the 6th-seeded Mannheim Adler got sweet revenge Wednesday, edging the top-seeded Frankfurt Lions 4-3 (2-0, 0-1, 2-2) on the road in Game 1 of their DEL semifinal series. Mannheim will host Game 2 of the best-of-five series Sunday.

Eric Healey's goal, which made it 4-1 at 11:54 of the third, went down as the game-winner as Mannheim held off a late rally by Frankfurt. Goalie Cristobal Huet was one of the Adler's keys to victory again, stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced. Lions goaltender Ian Gordon made 25 saves on the night.

Mannheim jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from youngsters Fabio Carciola and Markus Kink. Carciola banged home a feed from Healey to open the scoring at the 11:40 mark. Less than four minutes later, Markus Kink went top-shelf on Gordon's stick side after a behind-the-net pass by Jason Podollan to double the lead to 2-0.

Frankfurt responded early in the middle frame. On the man advantage, Doug Weights deflected point blast trickled past Huet and Pat Lebeau tucked it home from the left goalpost to put the Lions on the scoreboard, 2-1, at the 2:33-mark. The Lions kept pressing for the equalizer. But it was the "Eagles" who scored again early in the third.

Jochen Hecht extended his playoff goal scoring streak to four straight games. His wrister from the right face-off circle gave Mannheim a 3-1 lead on the power-play 39 seconds into the final stanza. Eric Healey connected on a one-timer from center point to make it 4-1 with 8:06 remaining. Frankfurt's Christian Kohmann found the back of the net to cut the lead in half, 4-2, two minutes later. But the Lions failed to solve Mannheim's defense. Jason Young's power-play tally with 16 seconds to go came way too late.