Two away games in a row
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Losing is forbidden for the Krefeld penguins
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Peter Niersbach (left) invited the team to dinner in the “Lus Bell” restaurant.
Photo: Lammertz
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Krefeld The penguins have to bring something countable from the away games on Friday in Augsburg and on Sunday in Nuremberg to prevent relegation. Coach Zakharkin hopes the 7-1 draw against Iserlohn was just a slip.
On the Saturday before the game against the Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven, the players and the coaching team of the Krefeld Pinguine met for a meal in the “Lus Bell” restaurant. With Peter Niersbach, a long-standing sponsor and companion of the black and yellow had invited. “It was a nice evening, the mood was good. There was also spaghetti with lots of chilli, maybe that also contributed to the win against Bremerhaven (6:4),” reports Niersbach, who was pleased that every player thanked him. “I gave the food on the initiative of Horst Giesen as a pensioner, I’ve sold my company in the meantime,” says Niersbach, who has been closely associated with the KEV and the penguins for over 30 years as a friend and sponsor.
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It is not known whether the home game against Iserlohn (1:7) on Tuesday would have gone better if the team had met for dinner beforehand. In any case, the penguins put on an embarrassing performance. “We analyzed the game again, I hope that was a one-off slip, that can’t happen to us again,” said head coach Igor Zakharkin on Thursday before leaving for Augsburg, where the penguins will be in a duel on Friday from 7.30 p.m the Panthers are under a lot of pressure. After the game, the Krefeld team will continue to Nuremberg. There they meet the Ice Tigers, who are currently eighth, at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
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At first, the penguins are only looking at the game against Augsburg. The Panthers are currently in 13th place, have two more points than the Penguins, but have also played three games fewer. The selection of new coach Serge Pelletier, who has won just two of his seven games since taking charge, is also caught in a relegation battle.
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“The game starts at 0-0. I expect a typical relegation duel. We have to win the game. It’s important that we manage our substitutions well and that the strikers work backwards,” says Zakharkin, who can fall back on almost the same squad in the two games at the weekend as in the home game against Iserlohn. In attack, Jeremy Bracco returns to the team after surviving an eye injury. Leon Niederberger is out of the game against Iserlohn with a concussion. Because in addition to the long-term injured Mirko Sacher and Patrik Hersley, Tom-Eric Bappert and Jesper Jensen Abo are still absent, the coach only has five defenders available.
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The coach did not want to reveal who will keep the goal on Friday. If Serge Belov, who was in good form recently, gets a break, then Nikita Quapp would make his first appearance since the beginning of December.
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Tomorrow is the third game in four days for the Panthers. After a strong performance in the 3-2 win on Tuesday against the German champions Eisbären Berlin, the team looked pretty flat on Wednesday in the 1-5 win against Bremerhaven. Perhaps this results in a small advantage for the penguins, who, however, always had to leave the ice as losers in the past seven games in Augsburg.
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However, the two appearances this season in Krefeld give some hope for the game in the Fuggerstadt. The penguins won there with 5:4 and 3:2. With Wade Bergman and Vincent Saponari, there are two players in the Panther team who were still wearing the Penguin tailcoat at the beginning of last season. Now the motto is “no losing”. This also applies to Sunday in Nuremberg.
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