Kurpfälzer conceded a 1: 4 defeat against the Eisbären Berlin, but remained sovereign at the top of the table in the southern group. On Tuesday it’s against Krefeld.
MANNHEIM – Adler Mannheim suffered their second home defeat in a row on Sunday afternoon in the German Ice Hockey Lia. The leaders of the southern group lost the summit against the North First Eisbären Berlin 1: 4 (0: 2, 0: 1, 1: 1) after a 1: 2 against Bremerhaven on Monday. In between there was a 3-2 win after extra time at Düsseldorfer EG on Friday (goals: Taylor Leier, Craig Schira, Joonas Lehtivuori) and on Thursday a 3-2 win in the penalty shootout at the Kölner Haien (Markus Eisenschmid, Joonas Lehtivuori, Stefan Loibl converted the decisive penalty). The Mannheimers remain confidently at the top
After the defeat against Berlin, Adler captain Ben Smith spoke plainly: “We didn’t play as we had to. We invested too little physically and emotionally, there is no excuse.” The eagles met Berliners who were very alert from the start and set the course for victory within 42 seconds: Fabian Dietz and Matt White shot the polar bears 2-0 (10th) after quick attacks through the neutral zone.
In the second third, the Mannheimers invested more, created good chances, but found their master in goalie Mathias Niederberger. And in front the Berliners were ripped off. Parker Tuomie took advantage of a mistake by the Adler to make it 3-0 (39th). The Mannheimers tried everything in the last section. Coach Pavel Gross took goalkeeper Dennis Endras off the ice when he was outnumbered himself. That went wrong. White hit the empty net to make it 4-0 (45th), before Matthias Plachta scored the consolation goal three minutes before the end: a goal for morale after a used day.
“Berlin absolutely deserved to win. We weren’t ready for 60 minutes. After the first third it should have been 5-1,” said coach Gross, surprised by his team: “We showed an embarrassing performance.” Captain Smith said calmly, “We won’t panic even after our home defeat. We still have three games that we want to win.” On Tuesday (8.30 p.m.) the game at Nordgruppen-taillight Krefeld Pinguine is on.
But there was still positive news from the eagle’s point of view. The “Shining Hearts Game” campaign raised 25,000 euros for a good cause. In total, the eagles sold 5,000 flashing hearts.
Tore: 0: 1 Dietz (9:06), 0: 2 White (9:48), 0: 3 Tuomie (38:04), 0: 4 White (44:44), 1: 4 Tarpaulin (56:11). – Referee: Kohlmüller / Schukies (Erding / (Herne). – Penalty minutes: 8/10. – Best players: Tarpaulin / White, Niederberger.?
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