Even worse than the unexpected loss against Oberhausen: X-rays revealed that Andy Schneider broke his left hand during his scuffle with Frankfurt’s Robert Francz last Friday. He will be out for up to four weeks and will miss the remainder of the regular season and likely most of the playoffs, too.
“That’s very tough”, Barons head coach Sean Simpson explained. “I mean, we wouldn’t even be here, contending for the top spot in the league without Andy. He’s been our key player this year and probably one of the most under-rated guys in this league.”
The versatile Schneider, a natural forward, had to play a lot of defense this year with Munich’s ongoing injury woes. In 53 games, he tallied 11 goals and 29 assists, which ranks him fourth on the team.
“We’ve fallen into a little slump for the first time this season,” Simpson explained. “But better right now than in the postseason. We didn’t play that well at the end of the regular season last year neither. But when it counted, we were able to step up and reach the finals. We won’t panic. There’s still five games to go. We’ll find our form and work ourselves out of that little slump.”
Peacock scores game-winner versus Wild WingsWith defenders Mike Smazal and Eddie Uvira back in the lineup, the Barons got off to a great start at Schwenningen. Only four minutes in, Wild Wings defender Alex Dück turned the puck over behind his own net and Derek King scored on a wrap-around. Darcy Werenka tied the game on a huge one-timer from the left face-off circle on the man advantage midway through the final period. With just over three minutes remaining, Derek King centered the puck out of the left corner, David Oliver’s blind backhand redirected the puck right between the hashmarks where Peacock hammered it home for the 2-1 win.
“We got three important points on the road tonight,” Barons sports director Max Fedra said. “That’s about it.”
Oberhausen stuns MunichDespite squandering an early two-goal lead, the Revier Löwen Oberhausen stunned the Barons, 3-2, on Tuesday. The win ended a 13-game winless streak.
Playing in his first game since the Olympics, Barons netminder Christian Künast got off to a hapless start. He got beaten on early shots by Jergus Baca and Martin Hohenberger to give Oberhausen a 2-0 lead.
When it seemed to get even worse late in the second, Derek Plante brought Munich to life with a short-hander. Just after killing a 65-second two-man advantage, Plante carried the puck out of his own zone and beat Revier Löwen goalie Sinuhe Wallinheimo with a blast from the far left slot right through the five-hole.
The Barons appeared to have turned the momentum 8:31 into the final stanza when David Oliver tied the game at two apiece on the powerplay, putting home the rebound of Peter Douris’ shot.
But the Revier Löwen rallied back. Only 94 seconds later, defenseman Peter Gulda came up with the game-winner, beating Barons netminder Künast with a slapshot on the man advantage.
"Our timing and positioning were pretty bad,“ Barons defender Mike Smazal explained. “It’s just little things, but they added up tonight.”
“Luck was on our side today,” Revier Löwen coach Mike Zettel stated. „Wallinheimo played a great game and we had good scoring efficiency.”
Schwenninger Wild Wings – Munich Barons 1-2 (0-1, 0-0., 1-1)Scoring: 0-1 (3:20) Derek King (Derek Plante, Hans Lodin), 1-1 (50:33) Darcy Werenka (Neal Martin, Jackson Penney - 5:4), 1-2 (56:38) Shane Peacock (David Oliver, Derek King). Penalties: Schwenningen 2, Munich 10.
Attendance: 4,000 (Eisstadion am Bauchenberg, Schwenningen).
Munich Barons - Revier Löwen Oberhausen 2-3 (0-2, 1-0, 1-1)Scoring: 0-1 (4:00) Jergus Baca (Josef Zajic, Jason McBain), 0-2 (6:32) Martin Hohenberger (Josef Zajic, Aliksandr Makrytski), 1-2 (37:54) Derek Plante (Mike Smazal - 4:5), 2-2 (47:04) David Oliver (Peter Douris, Shane Peacock - 5:4), 2-3 (48:38) Peter Gulda (Jason McBain, Ladislav Karabin).
Penalties: Munich 12, Oberhausen 14.
Attendance: 1,754 (Olympia-Eisstadion, Munich).
