Big semifinal start for Cologne

DEL playoff semifinals, day 1

Kölner Haie (2) - Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (10) 7-2

The favourites from Cologne were warned as outsiders Wolfsburg threw out regular season winners Adler Mannheim in the previous round. The start in match #1 of the best-of-five semifinal series then showed how well the home side were prepared against Wolfsburg. They played with a lot of pressure and took the lead already at 08:06 when a hard shot by Philip Gogulla from the right circle went into the far corner when guest goalie Daniar Dshunussow deflected the puck into his own net unluckily with his skates while trying to make a save. In the 15th minute Adrian Grygiel had a huge break away chance for the guests but missed the net by inches. In the following counter attack this was immidiately punished when Marco Sturm made it 2-0 in the 1-on-1 with the goalie! Two minutes later Sharks defender Ankert skated towards the net and forced a rebound which was used by Felix Schütz for the third goal of the night!

The middle period started just as the previous one. With a shot from the slot Marcel Ohmann scored the next one for the hosts through the five hole of Dshunussow. Just two minutes later the hosts even made it a handful when former NHL star Marco Sturm fired a high shot into the back of the net for his second of the day. This was also the end of the working day for Wolfsburg goalie Dshunussow who was substituted by Sebastian Vogl. For a moment the hosts failed to pay attention and only 11 seconds after their last strike it was Levi Nelson who scored the consolation goal for the guests with a shot into the top corner! Afterwards both teams had several good scoring opportunities but failed to use them.

In the last 20 minutes the Sharks defended their high lead without problems. When the hosts had a 5 on 4 power play there was a delayed penalty against the guests from Lower Saxony that was used by Charlie Stephens who made it half a dozen from just left to the net after a perfect cross-pass by Felix Schütz. At 51:31 Marcel Ohmann also scored his second of the match after a nice conbination with team colleague Alexander Weiß. With less than four minutes left in regulation Justin Mercier only was able to make the result look a bit more friendly for Wolfsburg with a rebound.   

Köln lead 1-0 in the series

Krefeld Pinguine (3) - Eisbären Berlin (4) 2-3

Hosts Krefeld had the better begin in the first period with an early goal by Herberts Vasiljevs at 03:42 but failed to use their clear advantage in scoring opportunities for more goals in the first 20 minutes. A clearly improved Berlin turned around the match completely in the middle period through Mads Christensen, TJ Mulock and André Rankel. With just 29 seconds left in the period Vasiljevs scored his second of the night to cut the guest lead to just one but the Polar Bears defended their small lead easily during the last 20 minutes.  

Berlin lead 1-0 in the series

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