Defending champion Red Bull Munich and second-placed Polar Bear Berlin are only one win away from reaching the play-off semi-finals of the DEL. Munich won 5:2 (0:1, 2:1, 3:0) at Fischtown Penguins Bremerhaven, while DEL record champion Berlin won 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 1:0) at Grizzlys Wolfsburg.
This means that after each fourth game in the best-of-seven series, the favourites are leading 3:1. Only in the last third did Munich succeed in demonstrating its superiority against the courageous penguins. In Lower Saxony, however, it was the defeated runners-up Wolfsburg who dominated the match for the most part before the team, which was severely weakened by substitution, weakened towards the end.
“We took a good step today, but we still need a victory,” said Captain Michael Wolf at Telekom Sport: “Our opponent may have run out of air in the last third, but Bremerhaven always makes it very difficult for us.
After Christoph Körner’s goal, hosts were leading after just two minutes before Brooks Macek (23rd, 26th) scored a double for Munich. Jan Urbas (32nd) scored the equaliser. Mads Christensen (42nd) and Captain Michael Wolf (44th) raised for the guests.
For the capitals, the Latvian hit Rihards Bukarts (4th) for an early lead. Christoph Höhenleitner (16th) scored the deserved equaliser of the hosts, but Andre Rankel (27th) and Louis-Marc Aubry (60th) shot the polar bears to victory.