The eagles cheer again (from left): Tim Wohlgemuth, Markus Eisenschmid and Thomas Larkin. Photo: vaf
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By Rainer Kundel
Mannheim. It was certainly not an everyday constellation that the visitors in the SAP Arena had to face on the third to last match day of the main round. Here the lurching ones Mannheim eagle two days after the change of coach (Bill Stewart for Pavel Gross), there the traditional club from the Rhineland, which after 31 years in the top division was about to be relegated again. The evening before, the penguins had just jumped off the shovel when they scored the winning goal against Schwenningen 0.3 seconds before the end of extra time. On Wednesday evening, after three defeats, the Eagles showed no mercy in a 6-1 (1-0, 3-1, 2-0) win.
Against this background, two teams faced each other, one of which wanted to shoot itself out of the crisis and the other was under absolute pressure to win. Due to the development of the last few weeks, Mannheim’s sports manager Axel Alavaara had called for a “restart in the middle of the season”. “Bill Stewart showed 100 percent pure energy during his speech in the dressing room,” observed the Swede. The coach himself set himself the first goal “that we go faster in all zones, not just in attack”.
Stewart and his two assistants, Marcel Goc and Jochen Hecht (together 1,591 NHL appearances) only decided to change the staff. Matthias Plachta, who returned from a four-week injury break, stormed in the formation that has been tried and tested for years together with Desjardins and Wolf, Luca Tosto paused. Already in the 3rd minute, the visitors, including around 600 refugees from the Ukraine living in Mannheim and the surrounding area, were able to cheer for the first time. Ruslan Iskhakov ended a 152-minute goal drought for the blue-white-red with his number goal.
The Eagles showed commitment, creating a lot of traffic in front of Penguins goalkeeper Shilin without scoring any further goals until the end of the first period. Defensively, however, there was still a lot in trouble, a number of dropouts in their own zone made it possible for the “tailcoat wearers” to finish what were not absolutely necessary.
After all, the fifth in the table quickly made things clear in the middle section. Iskhakov again and Nigel Dawes, who scored for the 19th time with the help of the boards, extended the lead to 3-0 within 100 seconds.
A lead that can lead to negligence. So the fourth block conceded the goal by Hoeffel and after two or three more quick switching attacks there was a glimmer of hope among the dozen fans in yellow and black overalls who had traveled with them. Markus Eisenschmid restored the three-goal gap with a rebound at hip height (31st). David Wolf’s knot also burst when the “Gartenstädter Bub” only had to hold out the bat after weeks of being goalless in a 5-1 win after a pass from Plachta. Tim Wohlgemuth (59th) scored the final score.
Greater significance than the encounter against the weak and finally resigned tail light can be hoped for on Friday (7.30 p.m.) from the performance in the last home game of the main round. Then second-placed Grizzlys Wolfsburg will come to the SAP Arena.
Adler Mannheim – Krefeld Penguins 6:1 (1:0, 3:1, 2:0); Tore: 1:0 Iskhakov (3.), 2:0 Iskhakov (23.), 3:0 Dawes (24.), 3:1 Hoeffel (26.), 4:1 Eisenschmid (31.), 5:1 Wolf (45.), 6:1 Wohlgemuth (59); Referee: Schrader (Bochum), MacFarlane (USA); penalty minutes: 6/6; Spectator: 6176.
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