Matchday 55 – Löwen Frankfurt vs. Iserlohn Roosters – Tue, February 21, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. – PENNY DEL season 2022/23
Final sprint in the PENNY DEL: Five days before the end of the main round, the Frankfurt Löwen are dueling against their table neighbors, the Iserlohn Roosters. For both teams it is about extremely important points in the fight for 9th and 10th place, which would both entitle them to enter the pre-play-offs.
The situation of the lions
For the lions, achieving a “top 10 place” would of course be the absolute and actually unexpected culmination of a hitherto inspiring season of promotion in the PENNY DEL. Relegation secured in Augsburg, most recently the derby win against the Adler Mannheim – the team of head coach Gerry Fleming should have tasted blood at least since yesterday’s success against their favorite opponent from the square city and are highly motivated for the last five games of the season. The lions have nothing to lose, they can win everything.
With Dominik Bokk, the lions are of course still missing their top scorer. His gap is currently being filled by the in-form Chad Nehring and the collective of the lion strikers around top scorer Carter Rowney (19 goals, 34 assists).
The opponent
The last day of the game was far less successful for the Roosters than in Frankfurt: Iserlohn lost 8-1 at home to the Straubing Tigers. Nevertheless, the team of head coach Greg Poss is currently on target. The Roosters scored at least one point against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers (9th place), and the Sauerlanders even won against Mannheim and Ingolstadt. Led by top scorer Kaspar Daugavins (20 goals, 24 assists), Eric Bailey (12 goals, 26 assists) and their strong goalie duo Hannibal Weitzmann and Andreas Jenike, Iserlohn has had a messed-up start to the season since Greg’s return Poss on the way to the goal of the season, reaching the finals.
Team comparison
In a statistical comparison, the two teams can hardly be much closer together than Löwen and Roosters: In the table, the Löwen in 11th place are only three points apart from Iserlohn in 12th place. The goal record speaks for Frankfurt, as the Löwen scored 11 goals more and 7 Less conceded hits. In the special teams, Iserlohn’s power play is 2% better than that of the Löwen (18.5% vs. 16.4%), while outnumbered the Löwen are just ahead of their coming opponent with 76.2% over penalties (73.5 %).
The home advantage factor could become all the more important, which the lions in the ice rink will hopefully get a good deal of tomorrow. Tickets are still available in Löwen ticket shopas well as at the box office.
