DEL Sunday recap

In the top game Mannheim (2nd) and Cologne (1st) played against each other for the second time within a week. The guests from Cologne were able to take revenge for the 2-3 home loss on Wednesday by defeating Mannheim in shootout. John Tripp and Felix Schütz used to early power plays to give the Sharks a two-goal lead before the home sime came back during the middle period through Ken Megowan and Yanick Lehoux. Although Alexander Weiß restored Cologne's lead early in the third period, Mannheim was not beaten yet and answered once more through Jamie Sifers. After a scoreless overtime, it was Chris Minard who transformed the decisive penalty shot for the guests to give the Sharks the extra point. Now Cologne have 86 points, followed by Mannheim with 84.

Krefeld Penguins were able to defend their third spot in the table with their third consecutive win, a solid 4-1 in Nürnberg. Adam Courchaine, Martin Schymaninski and Andreas Driendl pathed the way for their success until the start of the second period. This was the end for the working day of Ice Tigers goalie Tyler Weiman and Andreas Jenike came in for him. Around "half time" James Pollock answered for the hosts but only three minutes later Roland Verwey made everything clear by restoring the three-goal lead for Krefeld.  In the last 20 minutes Nürnberg dominated the game but couldn't close the gap anymore.

Another team of the top group that won are the Hamburg Freezers who beat the Straubing Tigers on home ice in overtime. Laurent Meunier opened the score for the underdogs from Bavaria after only 54 seconds but Brandon Reid answered already in the first period in power play for Hamburg. In an even match Hamburg missed to use their third-period dominance for the decision. Early in overtime they won the extra point though through a goal by Eric Schneider who scored in a 4 on 3 power play when Calvin Elfring sat in the penalty box.
 
Despite a hard fight bottom side Düsseldorfer EG lost the match against top-6 team ERC Ingolstadt in regulation. Daniel Kreutzer brought the hosts in front with their first power play after only three and a half minutes but Ingolstadt turned around the match in the mdidle period through Derek Dinger, Michel Périard and John Laliberte. Bernhard Ebner had scored the equalizer for Düsseldorf in between. Early in the third period it was again John Laliberte who gave Ingolstadt a two-goal lead before a strong DEG came back through Daniel Fischbuch and Ashton Rome. Still this wasn't the end of a goal festival and Jakub Ficenec scored the 5-4 game winner for the Bavarians at 48:38.

Augsburger Panther were not only able to win at home against DEL record champions Eisbären Berlin but they also cut the distance towards a top-6 spot which gives a direct ticket for the playoff quarterfinals to five points. Chad Bassen, Stephen Werner and JD Forrest gave Augsburg a solid three-goal lead until 38:13 before André Rankel opened the race to catch up for the guests from Berlin with only 22 seconds left in the second period when they had a 5 on 3 power play. Berin continued with a lot of pressure and were rewarded with a goal through Julian Talbot with less than five minutes left in regulation. Their goalie Rob Zepp left his net in the last 90 seconds for an additional skater but the local Panthers defended their small lead until the end of the match.
 
Hannover Scorpions gained an important win against a direct competitor for a pre-playoff spot when they beat Iserlohn Roosters in regulation. Ivan Ciernik brought the Scorpions in front early in the second period before Jeff Giuliano answered for the guests. At the end of the period Morten Green and Marvin Krüger made it 3-1 for Hannover. After Brendan Brooks cut the lead to the half at 41:47 the game was completely open again until Gerrit Fauser made everything clear with the 4-2 in power play at 50:13. For Iserlohn it was their third consecutive loss without a single point and they even fell to the second last position.

Bottom side Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg continued their positive trend by defeating EHC Red Bull München on the road in overtime. Ulrich Maurer used the first power play of the match to get EHC München in front but Sebatsian Furchner and Matt Dzieduszycki turned the result around completely in favour of Wolfsburg before the second intermission. At 48:05 Bryan Adams extended the game to overtime which was decided by Sebastian Furchner with his second of the day for the Grizzly Adams at 64:11. Now Wolfsburg are only three points behind the pre-playoff spots.

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