Weiden squander 5-2 lead against Krefeld, Rosenheim stun Kassel, LeBlanc fires Dresden to last-minute derby win

Dresden Ice Lions players shout their joy at the derby victory against Weißwasser.
Photo: Thomas Heide

Three offense thrillers and a landslide victory – that was the result of Sunday afternoon in the DEL2. While Kellerkind Crimmitschau sent defending champions Regensburg home 6-1, Ravensburg, Dresden and Rosenheim were all happy with narrow home victories, which were enough for three points each. In the evening, Kaufbeuren (3:2 against Bad Nauheim) and Krefeld (6:5 in Weiden) won in extra time. Freiburg stayed after that Trennung von trainer Timo Saarikoski in the 0:3 against the league leaders Landshut without a point.

Drew LeBlanc got the Eislöwen fans cheering at the sold-out home derby against the Lausitzer Füchse on Sunday. With his goal in the last minute, the former DEL scorer gave the home team three points when many of the 4,412 fans in the JOYNEXT Arena had already prepared for extra time. The Lausitzers had responded to the Ice Lions’ lead twice before, but with just 35 seconds left on the clock, it was all over after falling behind for the third time.

The biggest surprise of the match day came from Starbulls Rosenheim, who won 3-2 at home against Kassel. The hosts came back from a double deficit and turned the game around with two goals from Travis Ewanyk and Stefan Reiter in the final period. Meanwhile, Selber Wölfe’s race to ascend in Ravensburg was not rewarded. The visitors’ 1:4 deficit after almost 25 minutes of play was finally too much of a burden; the Wolves only got within 3:4 and had to leave three points behind in Upper Swabia. The frustration was expressed, among other things, in a game disciplinary penalty against Richard Gelke for disrespectful behavior (60th).

The Crimmitschau Ice Pirates got the clearest victory of the afternoon in a fight with the champions Regensburg. The West Saxons seem to have got back on track thanks to an overtime success in Krefeld on Friday. In the 6-1 victory over the Upper Palatinate team, not only did the full-back Christian Schneider shine again, but the attack rose this time as well. Goldhelm Tobias Lindberg as well as other key players such as Scott Feser and Colin Smith, who returned from injury, were on the score sheet. To classify the result, it is important to know that the hosts had only four (!) named defenders.

There was no direct impact after Timo Saarikoski was released from EHC Freiburg. Under the leadership of sporting director Peter Salmik, the Breisgauer remained offensively blank and lost to league leaders Landshut 0-3. EVL junior Philipp Dietl was pleased with a 32-save shutout. Another overtime loss was suffered by EC Bad Nauheim, which is now level on points with the lowest club Crimmitschau thanks to the 2:3 in Kaufbeuren. When Jamal Watson scored the game-winning goal – seven seconds before the end of overtime – ECN defender Bode Wilde didn’t cut a good figure. New signing Henri Kanninen impressed with two assists in his second appearance for the Red Devils.

Bitter for Weiden: The promoted team let go of a 5-2 lead against Krefeld after 40 minutes. Max Newton (54th), David Cerny (56th) and Matt Marcinew (60th) turned up the heat in the final stage. Marcinew even got the equalizer “twice” – in the first attempt, a goal from Canada (scored with his skate) was rejected. In overtime, offensive defenseman Davis Vandane completed the Penguins’ comeback.

Sebastian Groß/Tim Heß