With the victory, Munich kept sole possession of third place in the DEL.
“We’re geared up to play Cologne every time,” winger Mike Kennedy said after scoring the game-winner midway through the second period.
Haie defenseman John Miner fanned on the puck in his own zone, Kennedy picked it up and wristed it past netminder Chris Rogles from the near slot.
“It feels good,” Kennedy added. “It was a big goal, especially in a tight game like that.”
Schneider continues to thriveAfter a scoreless first, Munich’s Andy Schneider had broken the deadlock early in the second. Former Pittsburgh Penguin Alex Hicks couldn’t control a pass in his own end, Schneider intercepted it and blasted a slapshot past Rogles for the 1-0 lead.
“We started out well,” Cologne’s head coach Lance Nethery explained, “but couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities. Two individual mistakes got us behind. The second period clearly belonged to the Barons.”
Andy Schneider continued his hot streak despite being moved back and forth between his natural forward position and defense. He scored at least a point in four of the last five games, including a four-point performance in Tuesday’s 4-2 comeback win at Essen.
“With all our injuries, I’ve played about 30 games on defense this season,” Schneider said. So I feel pretty comfortable there. Of course, I’d rather play forward.”
Haie coach Nethery: “Munich’s win was ok”Cologne denied Christian Künast’s shutout bid when Toni Porkka knocked the puck past Munich’s goalie with an extra attacker on the ice and just 01:50 left on the clock.
“It was good to see that my team managed to hang in there,” Nethery added. “We kept the game close and finally got on the scoreboard. However you can’t win here at Munich, scoring just one goal. So I guess their win was ok.”
“We didn’t get off to a good start,” Barons head coach Sean Simpson remarked. “But Christian Künast kept us in the game with very good goaltending. We came alive in the second period and played a very solid final 40 minutes. It was a very important win for us. We will play four of our final six games before the Olympic break on the road, so it was very good to keep three points in Munich tonight.”
Munich Barons - Kölner Haie 2-1 (0-0, 2-0, 0-1)Scoring: 1-0 (23:47) Andy Schneider, 2-0 (30:52) Mike Kennedy, 2-1 (58:10) Toni Porkka (Dwayne Norris, Brad Schlegel - 6:5).
Penalties: Munich 14 plus 10 misconduct for Eduard Uvira, Cologne 18 plus 10 misconduct for Tino Boos.
Attendance: 3,831 (Olympia-Eisstadion, Munich).