Munich, Germany - Merry holidays – at least for Munich’s opponents: The Barons proved to be very generous this Christmas, giving a lot and not receiving anything, as they recorded back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season. After being stopped by the Berlin Eisbären on the road on Sunday, the Barons were edged by the second-place Krefeld Pinguine at home on Boxing Day.

Although the Barons bounced back well from their 3-1 road loss at Berlin three days before, a lack of scoring efficiency killed them in their home game against Krefeld - the team that had handed them their worst-ever loss a month ago in an 8-1 rout.

Local boy Brandl scores hattrick

Thomas Brandl, who was born and raised just 20 miles south of Munich, scored a hattrick for the Pinguine as Krefeld battled back from 1-2 and 2-3 deficits to down the Barons 4-3. With the victory, the Pinguine, who have won 14 out of their last 15, reclaimed the league lead from the Mannheim Adler. Munich trails Krefeld by ten points but was able to maintain third place, three points (a regulation win) ahead of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers.

Outshooting Krefeld 34-29, Munich had enough quality opportunities to put the game away. But unlike the Pinguine, they failed to get the puck across the goal line.

King: "They just don't quit"

“At the moment, we just manage to score when we need it most,” Pinguine coach Chris Valentine explained.

“They just don’t quit,” Barons veteran Derek King remarked. “They stick to the game plan – whether they’re down a goal or up. They had opportunities, beared down on ‘em and scored. We had a few opportunities ourselves, but we just couldn’t put it by ‘em.”

Mistakes kill the Barons

Up 2-1, the Barons tried to extend their lead on the powerplay. They overpursued, though. With the penalty expiring, Barons defender Greg Johnston failed to keep the puck in the zone and Brandl scored his first of the night on a breakaway.

However the Barons recovered and got a psychological boost just seconds before the second intermission: Alex Serikow reclaimed the lead after playing give-and-go with Mike Kennedy.

But Krefeld managed to turn the momentum, continuing to capitalize on Munich’s mistakes.

Four minutes into the third, two Pinguine forwards found themselves all alone at Munich’s blueline after a sluggish line change from the Barons. It was Brandl again who seized the moment and beat netminder Rousson to tie the game at three apiece.

With just over nine minutes to go, Brandl tipped a pass from Stephane Barin past Rousson for the game-winning score – a perfect night for Brandl who scored a hattrick on just three shots-on-goal.

Munich was willing to battle back. But with their tanks obviously empty, the Barons failed to create enough pressure to endanger Krefeld’s win.

Munich rallied back from Krefeld’s early lead

Christoph Brandner had given Krefeld the lead just 227 seconds into the campaign after defender Darryl Shannon set him up nicely with a long pass through the neutral zone. But Munich answered quickly when veteran Derek King scored after a terrific solo effort.

Defender Jason Herter gave Munich its first lead of the game seven minutes into the second. With heavy traffic in front of Pinguine netminder Roger Nordström, Herter picked up the loose puck and lifted it into the net.

Barons bitten by hungry “Polar Bears”

Behind great goaltending from former Chicago Wolf Richard Shulmistra, whose wife had given birth to a baby boy just three hours before the game, the Berlin Eisbären cruised to a 3-1 home win over the Munich Barons on Sunday.

Coming off a great comeback win at Nuremberg, the Eisbären appeared to be the hungrier team. They put the game away on back-to-back even-strength scores midway through the final period. Marc Fortier and David Roberts struck 45 seconds apart to put the game out of reach at 3-1.

"It was like a play-off game, a very intense battle,“ Barons sports director Max Fedra remarked. “The only difference was that Berlin managed to score twice in the final period.”

Back at his natural forward position, Andy Schneider came up with Munich’s only goal on a counterattack halfway through the first. He tied Berlin’s early lead when he converted a set-up from Jörg Handrick.

Eisbären Berlin - Munich Barons 3-1 (1-1, 0-0, 2-0)
Scoring: 1-0 (1:38) Nico Pyka (Boris Blank, Chris Marinucci), 1-1 (9:54) Andy Schneider (Jörg Handrick, Thomas Dolak), 2-1 (52:16) Marc Fortier (Eduard Lewandowski, Dan Laperriere), 3-1 (53:01) David Roberts (Boris Blank, Nico Pyka).
Penalties: Berlin 14, Munich 16.
Attendance: 4,100 (Wellblechpalast, Berlin).

Munich Barons - Krefeld Pinguine 3-4 (1-1, 2-1, 0-2)
Scoring: 0-1 (3:47) Christoph Brandner (Darryl Shannon, Christian Ehrhoff -5:4), 1-1 (6:40) Derek King (Christoph Schubert, Derek Plante - 4:4), 2-1 (26:54) Jason Herter (Christoph Schubert, Derek Plante), 2-2 (36:30) Thomas Brandl (Stephane Barin), 3-2 (39:30) Alexander Serikow (Mike Kennedy, Greg Johnston), 3-3 (42:59) Thomas Brandl (Dan Lambert, Mario Doyon), 3-4 (50:55) Thomas Brandl (Stephane Barin, Sergej Stas).
Penalties: Munich 16, Krefeld 16.
Attendance: 3236 (Olympia-Eisstadion, Munich).