Sharks lose but stay league leaders

It was not really the weekend for the Kölner Haie with two away losses. At least they grabbed a point today in Munich when they lost in shootout against the local EHC Red Bull. Felix Schütz used a penalty shot attempt to get the guests from Cologne in front at 33:58 before Ulrich Maurer answered in power play at the start of the third period. After a scoreless overtime, Brent Aubin was the only one to get a goal in shootout and gave the game winner to the Red Bulls who defended their pre-playoff spot.
 
Second-placed Adler Mannheim cut the deficit towards league leaders Kölner Haie to just one point after defeating the Hamburg Freezers in one of today's top games with 3-2. David Wolf and Garrett Festerling brought the guests from Northern Germany twice in front during the first two periods with the equalizer through Dominik Bittner in between. Yannick Lehoux only needed 16 seconds to tie the match at the begin of the third period in a 5 on 3 power play before he went on to score the game winner for Mannheim with just 96 seconds left to play in regulation. The guests tried it without their goalie but an additional skater in the last minute of play but they could't force the equalizer anymore. 

In an with 14,100 spectators almost completely sold-out O2 World home side Eisbären Berlin lost against ERC Ingolstadt with the minimum score of 0-1. With a very late game winner at 54:24 Kris Sparre was successful for the guests who cut the deficit towards today's opponents Berlin in the league table to just three points.

The Krefeld Pinguine went past Hamburg and now are 4th after defeating bottom side Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg on the road. Christian Kretschmann, Boris Blank and Joshua Meyers pathed the way for the Krefeld win during the first period with the equalizer through Kai Hospelt in power play in between. Already at 21:38 did Justin Mercier bring Wolfsburg back into the game but they couldn't force a comeback anymore despite being the more active team during the remaining time.

The Straubing Tigers suffered another heavy setback to their playoff ambitions when they were beaten on home ice by competitors Nürnberg Ice Tigers. Ryan Bayda, Jason Jaspers, Connor James and James Pollock earned Nürnberg a comfortable four-goal lead until the start of the second period before René Röthke scored the consolation goal for Straubing in a 5 on 3 power play. Straubing continued with a lot of pressure but the guests defended well and kept their 4-1 lead until the end.
 
Hosts Augsburger Panther stay in touch with the top-6 playoff spots after their 5-2 win against direct rivals Hannover Scorpions. Maris Jass brought Hannover in front at 11:56 but Peter Flache answered for Augsburg with just one second left to go in the first period. At the start of the middle period TJ Trevelyan used a double to give Augsburg a 3-1 lead with two power play strikes. Before the end of the period the Scorpions answered through Martin Hlinka though. Peter MacArthur and Stephen Werner then made everything clear for Augsburg in the last 20 minutes.

Last in the table Düsseldorfer EG grabbed an easy 6-2 win against playoff candidates Iserlohn Roosters. Daniel Kreutzer and Marian Bazany brought Düsseldorf in front twice during the first period but Matt Tommssoni Mark Bell answered for Iserlohn until the start of the second. With a double within 48 seconds Justin Bostrom and Ashton Rome pathed the way for the home win at the end of the period. Colin Long and Andreas Martinsen even added another two during the last 20 minutes.

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