David Oliver scored the game-tying goal with 8:58 remaining in regulation as the Munich Barons rallied back from a two-goal deficit to force the visiting Eisbären into a penalty shootout Tuesday night.
Oliver: “It took a 60-minute effort”“They made us work for everything we got tonight,” Oliver said. “They capitalized on a couple of our mistakes. It took a 60-minute effort for us to pull that one out - a little closer than we would have liked.”
Oliver had also scored Munich’s only goal in Sunday’s 5-1 loss at Krefeld that knocked the Barons out of first place. His tally temporarily cut Krefeld’s lead in half 59 seconds into the final period. But a disputed interference call against Peter Abstreiter gave Dan Lambert the opportunity to re-establish Krefeld’s two-goal lead before Gary Shuchuk capped the win with back-to-back goals. Gilbert Dionne and Christoph Brandner also scored for the Pinguine.
Eisbären squander two-goal leadThe Barons also looked a little sluggish in the opening minutes against the Eisbären Tuesday, allowing Berlin some good opportunities early on. But they took a 1-0 lead midway through the first when Johan Rosén deflected a point shot from fellow-Swede Hans Lodin past Berlin’s netminder Richard Shulmistra.
However the Eisbären battled back, mainly taking advantages of Munich’s mistakes.
Eduard Lewandowski took advantage of a crucial turnover at the Barons blueline. He skated in all alone on Barons netminder Boris Rousson and tied the game at one apiece at 11:47.
Coming out of the right corner, Jeff Tomlinson set up Keith Aldridge in the near slot to give Berlin a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Aldrigde struck again midway through the second. While playing 4-on-4, Barons forward Derek King was wrestled down and held by Rob Leask behind the Eisbären net, but play continued. Seconds later, a long pass from David Roberts caught Munich during a line change and Aldridge beat Barons goalie Rousson to make it 3-1 with 8:15 remaining in the middle frame.
"Very intense, playoff type o’ game"A mighty blast by defenseman Shane Peacock from the near right slot on a two-man advantage cut Berlin’s lead in half just over three minutes before the second intermission.
The Barons dictated the game thereafter but had to wait until David Oliver knocked Derek Plante’s rebound across the goal line twelve minutes into the final stanza.
The 2,153 spectators then got to see a high-scoring penalty shootout: Andy Schneider, David Oliver, Peter Douris und Derek King converted four straight attempts for Munich, while Berlin scored three times. After a great deke, Mike Kennedy fanned on the puck on Munich’s final attempt, but goalie Boris Rousson stopped Eisbären forward Steve Larouche to seal the Barons two-point victory.
“It was a very intense, playoff type o’ game,” Eisbären coach Pierre Pagé and Munich’s Sean Simpson agreed. “When you’ve got a 3-1 lead at that time of the year,” former Anaheim Mighty Ducks head coach Pagé added, “you don’t let it slip away. That was the turning point of the game.”
Krefeld Pinguine - Munich Barons 5-1 (1-0, 1-0, 3-1)Scoring: 1-0 (7:57) Gilbert Dionne (Christian Ehrhoff, Gary Shuchuk - 5:4), 2-0 (26:21) Christoph Brandner (Brad Purdie), 2-1 (40:59) David Oliver (Derek Plante), 3-1 (45:31) Dan Lambert (Mario Doyon - 5:4), 4-1 (48:16) Gary Shuchuk, 5-1 (54:21) Gary Shuchuk (Gilbert Dionne).
Penalites: Krefeld 12 plus 5 plus game misconduct for Jeff Christian, Munich 20.
Attendance: 4,321 (Rheinlandhalle, Krefeld).
Munich Barons - Eisbären Berlin 4-3 (1-2, 1-1, 1-0, 1-0) after penalty shootout Scoring: 1-0 (9:44) Johan Rosén (Hans Lodin, Peter Abstreiter), 1-1 (11:47) Eduard Lewandowski (Robert Leask, Sven Felski), 1-2 (14:57) Keith Aldridge (Jeff Tomlinson - 5:4), 1-3 (31:45) Keith Aldridge (David Roberts, Jeff Tomlinson - 4:4), 2-3 (36:46) Shane Peacock (Hans Lodin, Derek King - 5:3), 3-3 (51:02) David Oliver (Derek Plante, Shane Peacock - 5:4).
Game-winning penalty shot: 4-3 Derek King.
Penalties: Munich 8, Berlin 18.
Attendance: 2,153 (Olympia-Eisstadion, Munich).
