meIn a thriller about overtime, Eisbären Berlin returned in the final series of the German Ice Hockey Championship against EHC Red Bull Munich. Last year’s champion, who has been chasing after him, won the second play-off match 3-2 (1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0) after two exciting additional times and thus tied against Bayern 1:1 out of .
Trevor Parkes gave Bayern the lead in the 13th minute. After just 35 seconds, Leo Pfederel equalized as he fell. In the arena, which sold out to 5,533 fans, Parks (58) saved the EHC team again after a goal scored by Frans Nielsen (41) in double overtime. In the emotional match, Nielsen (84) was the match winner again. This means that polar bears can play in their hall on Mondays (7:30 p.m.).
A pitched battle between Munich’s Patrick Hager and Manuel Federer, who finally bled out, was a disturbing sensation in the final leg of the third period. The Munich team won the first game in the Best-of-Five series on Friday night 4:3 despite it being 0:3 in the meantime. Whoever wins three matches first is a champion. The fourth final will be held on Wednesday (7:30 pm) again in the Bavarian capital.
“German Snapper”
Don Jackson trusted the same initial setup as the mad start in the Federal Capital. As usual, Yassin Ahliz, Ben Smith and Austin Ortega played in the attack line, while Maximilian Dubner and Jonathon Blum began to defend in front of goalkeeper Henrik Hokland.
The Bavarians, who owned the first minutes, survived their first deficit brilliantly. Parks made a strong statement with his goal in the short corner. The polar bears, who were under constant stress due to the tight schedule, responded immediately. Pföderl struggled through the Munich defense and scored well, 1-1. “He’s the German snapper,” said striker Kevin Clark, paying tribute to his Berlin teammates at Magentasport.
In the second third, Berlin goalkeeper Matthias Niederberger was at his best. At first the national goalkeeper saved a reaction against free Zac Redmond (24th place), and then raised the nerves of the Munich team with a double majority. Berlin conceded four penalties in the second half, but they did not concede. On the flip side, Hoechland was not surprised by Marcel Knoebbels (39th place). “No one gets in,” Justin Schutz of Munich squabbled as he took advantage of his chances.
Berliners made better use of their superiority. At the beginning of the third section, Nielsen successfully completed a superb synthesis via Pföderl and Noebels. Parks put the EHC back in the game before the Universal Service had to clean up bloodstains from the fight between Hager and Wiederer. In the second extra time, Nielsen made sure to cheer Berlin.