Kölner Haie on top position
23 Sep 2012 | Dennis Mende
Mannheim couldn't avoid their first loss of the season in Augsburg while Köln was too strong for Iserlohn. Now the Sharks are the new DEL leaders.
Kölner Haie have grabbed the lead in the DEL table after a 3-1 away win against the Iserlohn Roosters. Chris Minard scored the 0-1 after exactly eight minutes before Mike York tied the match for the home side early in the middle period. Even before the second intermission strong Sharks decided the game with goals by Nathan Robinson and Philip Gogulla. In the last 20 minutes the experienced guest team didn't allow Iserloohn to come closer again. Cologne has won all four matches so far and gained 11 out of 12 possible points.
The change of the leading position could only happen as Adler Mannheim lost their match in Augsburg. Against the local Panthers they were in front with an 0-1 and 2-3. In the end a penalty shot transformed by Mario Valery-Trabucco at 43:12 let Augsburg earn their third win in their third match. Together with Nürnberg, that didn't play today, they are the only side without losing a point so far.
In the second top match of the day ERC Ingolstadt managed to reach the 6-point mark by beating current champions Eisbären Berlin 5-4. The hosts were already in front 2-0 and 5-2 after the first and second period respectively but Barry Tallackson and Julian Talbot made them suffer until the very last second with their third-period goals. Decisive in the match was the great ERC attacking line consisting of Björn Barta-John Laliberte-Jared Ross. Especially Laliberte and Ross could convice with three points each.
Straubing Tigers earned their second win of the season by defeating Krefeld Pinguine 3-2 at home. Francois Methot had opened the score for Krefeld at 9:26 but Carsen Germyn, Tyler Beechey and Blaine Down (empty net) had turned the match around. With 8 seconds left on the clock again Methot put the puck into the Straubing net but the strike came too late.
In Düsseldorf local DEG Metro Stars had more problems than expected with bottom side Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg. The guests even went in front through Sebastian Furchner in the first period. With only one second left in the middle period Drew Paris scored the equalizer before Travis Turnbull won the extra point in the shootout for the hosts.
Another low-scoring game was played in Hamburg where the home side Freezers beat EHC Red Bull München with 1-0 in front of 8,336 spectators in the O2 World. The game-winner was scored by Thomas Oppenheimer already at 20:47. Freezers goalie Dimitrij Kotschnew gained his first shutout of the season with 18 saves. Hamburg now has already 9 points after 4 games while München has only one point in three.