Such a relegation battle rarely offers great art. No matter what sport. Although in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) there are still a few games to play before the accounts are settled. But things were not very relaxed for the polar bears in their 27th DEL season game. They absolutely needed a three-point win again so as not to lose faith in their own strength. But the Fischtown Pinguins, themselves less in the flow at the moment, weren’t really a build-up opponent on Friday evening either: at least Serge Aubin’s team managed to get two points.
The Berliners won 3:2 (1:0, 1:1, 0:1/1:0) and were actually able to leave relegation rank 14 for the first time because Augsburg lost 3:4 in Iserlohn at the same time. Giovanni Fiore scored the winning goal for the polar bears in the first minute of extra time.
The really great art on the ice, which could be admired in front of 9197 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Arena during the first third break. Duck throwing was the order of the day. Yes, a fun break for selected spectators, the focus was of course on having fun, although there was already an important interim result for the polar bears at this point. They were leading 1-0 after a goal that fell four seconds before the break.
A guest player had involuntarily thrown the duckling, pardon the puck, into his own goal. Beset by Giovanni Fiore, who was listed as the first goalscorer of the day. And after Morgan Ellis had scored in the second third from long-range to make it 2-0 for the Berliners, again a Bremerhaven had steered into their own goal, so things looked very good for the polar bears.
It wasn’t Tobias Ancicka’s fault that the polar bears had to tremble so much
Because no matter how low the pace of the game was and no matter how much the hands of the Berliners were shaking – the polar bears were relatively safe defensively. Nothing came from Bremerhaven for a long time, but then a good action. Helped by mistakes by Frank Hördler and Jonas Müller then not intervening, Skyler McKenzie scored to make it 1:2 from the perspective of the Fischtown Pinguins.
After that, the Berliners fluttered vigorously. Only Tobias Ancicka didn’t flutter, the polar bears’ goalkeeper got a lot to do in the last third, but coped brilliantly with it. When Bremerhaven counterattacked – the Berliners were in the majority – Ancicka didn’t stand a chance: Alex Friesen scored to make it 2-2. The Berlin goalkeeper was even able to defuse the next break of the guests.
But then again nothing happened with a three-point win for the Berliners, for the ninth time in a row. Luckily for the polar bears, extra time was over after 54 seconds after Fiore’s goal.
Bremerhaven’s coach Thomas Popiesch said: “We played well, but in extra time an individual performance was enough for the Berliners to win.” Serge Aubin on the Berliner side, on the other hand, seemed happier than his colleague from Bremerhaven and praised the attitude of his players. It was a “good win against a good team”. Well.
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Source: Tagesspiegel
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
