Mannheim on top of DEL after end of regular season

With a 4-2 home win against Ingolstadt league leaders Adler Mannheim defended their first place in front of more than 12,000 fans due to the better goal average towards second placed Kölner Haie (both Mannheim and Cologne gained 99 points). The guests from Ingolstadt went twice in front through Joe Motzko and Robert Sabolic but Yannic Seidenberg, Marcus Kink, Ken Megowan and Michael Glumac (empty netter) turned the match around for Mannheim.

Cologne showed great will against Nürnberg when they not only tied a 0-3 after early goals by Yan Stastny, Eric Chouinard and Casey Borer through Nathan Robinson (2) and Felix Schütz. Late in the second period Patrick Reimer restored the lead for the guests from Bavaria before the Sharks answered again, this time through Charlie Stephens at 41:42. For the pleasure of the majority of the 13,126 fans in the arena Nathan Robinson completed his hattrick to score the game winner at 52:01. In the last minute of regulation veteran Mirko Lüdemann even added the 6-4 into the empty net.

Krefeld Pinguine defended their third spot with a 6-5 OT win against the Hannover Scorpions who still needed points in their fight for the pre-playoff spots. In a completely open match it was a constant up-and-down for both sides. Scott King scored the late equalizer for Hannover at 59:37 when the guests had already risked everything by pulling out their goalie for an additional skater. Still Krefeld were the luckier side and Herberts Vasiljevs won the extra point for them in overtime at 62:34. For Hannover just one point was not enough today and they missed the playoffs after two consecutive losses at the end of the regular season.

With a great performance and a 6-2 against current DEL champions Eisbären Berlin in the last match of the regular season, home side Straubing Tigers rewarded themselves and made it to the playoffs. Carsen Germyn (2), Matt Hussey, Sandro Schönberger, Grant Lewis and René Röthke left the guests from the German capital more or less chanceless while Julian Talbot and TJ Mulock had cut the result for Berlin to 2-1 and 4-2 in between.

In an even match guests EHC München took the early lead through Ulrich Maurer at 13:10. Later though they failed to extend this one and were punished for it by home side Hamburg Freezers with third-period goals by Jerome Flaake and Garrett Festerling - the 2-1 through Festerling only came at 56:18. For Munich this loss is extremly bitter as they fell out of the playoff spots - a win today would have saved them.

In a duel with little relevance for the outcome of the season - hosts Augsburg were qualified for the pre-playoffs already while guests Iserlohn couldn't reach them anymore - the local Panthers won all three points. Brian Roloff, Chad Bassen and Derek Whitmore had brought Augsburg in front 3-1 after 20 minutes with a goal by Michael Wolf for Iserlohn in between before Jeff Giuliano and Michael Wolf tied the match before the last 10 minutes. At 58:16 Stephen Werner scored the late 4-3 game winner for the playoff candidates from Augsburg.

In front of 4,503 fans - a really big number for Wolfsburg - home side Grizzly Adams needed a three-point win and losses by their direct competitors. Thomas Gödtel though brought the guests Düsseldorfer EG in front already at 03:08. The shock was not too big for Wolfsburg as they turned the game around through Sebastian Furchner and Aleksander Polaczekin the following ten minutes. At the start of the second period Justin Bostrom scored the equalizer for the DEG but Matthew Dzieduszycki answered with the game winner for Wolfsburg in power play already at 25:29.

Pre-Playoffs:

Nürnberg Ice Tigers (7) - Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (10)
Augsburger Panther (8) - Straubing Tigers (9)

Playoff Quarterfinals:

Adler Mannheim (1) - lower seeded pre-playoff winners
Kölner Haie (2) - higher seeded pre-playoff winners
Krefeld Pinguine (3) - ERC Ingolstadt (6)
Eisbären Berlin (4) - Hamburg Freezers (5)

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