Setback for the Eisbären Berlin
Loss to Cologne
Setback for the Eisbären Berlin
The Eisbären Berlin are defeated by the Kölner Haie 3:4 after extra time and lose again for the first time after five wins.
Berlin. The audience numbers were certainly not bad at the Eisbären Berlin, actually quite good given the performance. Mostly around 10,000 visitors always came to the Mercedes-Benz Arena, despite many defeats, despite a long, more than perceived relegation battle. In the meantime, however, it can also be seen from the stands that the master is really enjoying himself again. Mostly around 14,000 watched last, many places were no longer free on Friday.
The 13,828 visitors this time experienced a rather mixed performance, with the polar bears doing very well, but also making a few mistakes that they didn’t make recently. That’s why the series of the defending champion, who had won the last five games in a row, broke. The Berlin documents 3: 4 (1: 1, 2: 1, 0: 1, 0: 1) after extra time against the Kölner Haie, but could still take a point and keep the gap in tenth place in the table with five.
Mauer, Noebels, Fiore meet for the Berlin polar bears
Yannick Veilleux, who had previously been suspended, was back for the Berliners. With him, the polar bears began briskly, immediately put the pressure on and scored many shots on goal for ex-EHC coach Uwe Krupp’s team. After two wins in a row, he and his team didn’t let themselves be taken by surprise. Undeterred, the Haie used a bad pass from Marcel Noebels behind his own goal through David McIntyre (9′).
That didn’t bother the polar bears, on the contrary. The Berlin actions followed the momentum of their successful series and let themselves be carried away. Her forechecking stopped the Haie from building up early on, she usually had control in the neutral zone and went aggressively into the attacking third. The equalizer by Frank Mauer was consistent (17th). Likewise, Noebels made it 2-1 (22′) after Leonhard Pföderl had captured the puck on the center line.
Bailen decides against the polar bears
opportunity to make the result clearer, had the polar bears in abundance. That led them to be a bit careless, Cologne could generate more pressure. A counterattack followed to equalize again, which Landon Ferraro scored again (34′). But he only enjoyed it for a short time, had to go to the penalty box and was able to experience the excellent EHC power play from there. Giovanni Fiore made it 3:2 (35th).
The Haie responded to a somewhat fickle game by the Berliners with carelessness on the defensive with Mark Olver making it 3-3 (45th). That steered the game against the table seventh in a hotly contested final phase, which was decided by Nick Bailen shortly before the end of extra time (64th).
You can read more about the Eisbären Berlin here.