Wolfsburg sweeps into Semis

Nürnberg Ice Tigers vs Adler Mannheim 0-3, series 1-3

Nürnberg had yet to lose their first home game in 2015 and this was the biggest challenge for Mannheim in this series. But in the second period they found a way to pull away when Jochen Hecht converted a penalty shot and 6 minutes later Dennis Reul added to the lead. With 4 minutes left in the game Christoph Ullmann sealed the deal and gave the Ice Tigers the first home loss of the year, which came at a bad time as Mannheim can now kick out Nürnberg on friday.

Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams vs EHC München 4-3, series 4-0

Under the eyes of football world champion Andre Schürrle it was München, who was looking for its last chance to stay alive in the 2015 playoffs. Consequently Jeremy Dehner gave them a first goal to celebrate after 5 minutes on a powerplay. But after 14 minutes Richard Regehr should provide the game changer, when he was ejected for a knee check and gave Wolfsburg 5 minutes to turn around the game. This chance did not go to waste. First Tyler Haskins found Matt Dzieduszycki with a backhand no look pass so he could easily tip it in. 2 minutes later Haskins hit the goal post, but Sebastian Furchner converted the rebound for the 2-1. And Wolfsburg’s powerplay should continue to be the Achilles‘ heel for München. The next one should bring the third goal for Wolfsburg and again it was Dzieduszycki from Haskins and Furchner.

Daniel Sparre got one back for München, but Wolfsburg got another powerplay in the last period and this time Haskins found Furchner in the slot, who banged it in for the next 2 goal lead with both players collecting their fourth point of the night. As München could only score one more goal by Michael Wolf with 20 seconds left, this meant that Wolfsburg marches on to the semifinals with a sweep over the second seed from the Bavarian capital.

Düsseldorfer EG vs Hamburg Freezers 2-1, series 2-2

Going into the game Düsseldorf’s plan was to wear out the limited roster of the Frezzers, who are suffering from injuries and suspensions. The game plan seemed to run its course when Ken-Andre Olimb got a first goal for Düsseldorf on a powerplay at the halftime mark of the game. But Adam Mitchell evened up the game 3 minutes later for Hamburg. Patience was the key for Düsseldorf although they did not have to wait too long in order to regain the lead. Alexander Thiel could finish a 4-on-2 break for Düsseldorf three minutes before the second intermission. Hamburg had nothing left in the tank anymore and so it didn’t even matter that Travis Turnbull missed out on a penalty shot in the last period. The series is now tied again and goes back to Hamburg on friday.

Iserlohn Roosters vs ERC Ingolstadt 5-0, series 2-2

Iserlohn needed to keep the home win streak of this series alive to make it an all even matchup and with their fanatic crowd behind them, they started scoring in the second period. Sean Sullivan and Brooks Macek on the powerplay established a 2-0 lead for Iserlohn within 95 seconds before Brent Raedeke could add a shorthander later in the period. In the last period Sean Sullivan and Brodie Dupont could give the fans 2 more reasons to go crazy, while the team also provided their goalie Daniar Dshunussow with a shutout.

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