Munich, Germany - David Oliver scored two goals and converted a penalty shot as the Munich Barons defended third place in the DEL with a 3-2 road win after penalty shootout over their Bavarian rivals Nuremberg Ice Tigers. Oliver had given the Barons their first lead of the game with 5:29 to go. But a controversial equalizer sent the game into the extra session less than a minute later.

„I guess we saw two very, very good teams tonight,” Munich’s head coach Sean Simpson said after veteran Derek King decided the shootout contest in favor of the Barons.

Added Nuremberg’s Bob Murdoch: “If we continue to play like that, we’re gonna win a lot of games. With a capacity crowd on hand, there was a terrific atmosphere in here. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the shootout.”

Wheeldon and Lodin return

Veterans Simon Wheeldon and Hans Lodin returned to the Barons line-up. Wheeldon had gotten a couple days off to join his family and ill mother-in-law in Canada. Lodin looked very solid in his first game after surgery on his right wrist in mid-November.

The sellout crowd of 8,164 in the Arena Nürnberg didn’t get to see many scoring opportunities in a scoreless opening period.

The Ice Tigers slightly dominated the game and drew first blood 04:33 into the second. Luciano Borsato intercepted a clearing attempt by Barons netminder Boris Rousson and backhanded the puck at the net. Youngster David Sulkovsky picked up the rebound and off Rousson’s back, the puck trickled over the goalline for the 1-0 lead.

Oliver strikes twice

Nuremberg failed to extend its lead a nd Munich responded in the final twenty minutes. David Oliver scored twice within a ten-minute span to put the visiting Barons up 2-1.

Set up by Simon Wheeldon, Oliver rifled a slapshot past Tigers netminder Frederic Chabot to tie the game at one apiece 4:35 into the third period.

With 5:29 to go in regulation, a nice feed from Mike Kennedy set up Oliver one-on-one with Tigers defender Paul Stanton. With a number of nice dekes, Oliver skated past Stanton and beat his former Houston Aeros teammate Chabot with a backhander.

Controversial goal ties the game

But Nuremberg responded quickly. Just 50 seconds later, Martin Reichel, the brother of Maple Leafs center Robert, wristed a shot past the well-screened Barons goalie to make it 2-2.The score was very controversial, though, as Munich’s Rousson was apparently interfered by Tigers captain Jürgen Rumrich, who had entered the goal crease with both skates prior to the goal.

Referee Gerhard Lichtnecker allowed the score right away. The Barons protested heavily, but under German rules, a video review is not allowed in case of a potential goal crease violation.

Just seconds before the final horn, Oliver had the chance to score the game winner. But this time, he was denied by Chabot.

Barons win penalty shootout

Oliver then opened the shootout contest with his third goal of the evening, but Nuremberg’s Martin Jiranek immediately evened the score at 1-1.

The following ten attempts were stopped by the goalies before Munich’s Derek King came up with the winning conversion on the 13th attempt. Nuremberg’s Markus Akerblom was stopped by Rousson.

“Today’s game was like a playoff game,” David Oliver remarked. “It was pretty nice to score on Frederic Chabot, a former long-time teammate. He actually teased me for the wasted opportunity in the final seconds. But I came back and converted a penalty shot on him.”

Nuremberg Icetigers - Munich Barons 2-3 (0-0, 1-0, 1-2, 0-1) after shootout
Scoring: 1-0 (24:33) David Sulkovsky (Luciano Borsato, Bruno Zarillo), 1-1 (44:35) David Oliver (Manuel Kofler, Simon Wheeldon), 1-2 (54:31) David Oliver (Andy Schneider, Mike Kennedy), 2-2 (55.21) Martin Reichel (Shawn Anderson, Jürgen Rumrich).
Winning penalty shot: 2-3 Derek King.
Penalties: Nurem berg 16, Munich 14.
Attendance: 8,164 (Arena Nürnberg, Nuremberg).