Munich with light, shadow and all in-between – in just 3 games

MUNICH – GREMANY: First, 2 weeks without any games, then 3 matches in only 5 days. That’s the start of the final run to the playoffs for the EHC Munich. From the break for Munich, no one of the direct rivals was able to make profit and so Munich is still in the position to have the things in their own hands.

This plan started with the away game in Cologne between both teams were 7 places, but only 8 points. Before the game, Mirko Lüdemann was honored for his DEL-record of 893 games – all of them for Cologne.
The Sharks started the game really motivated, and got a penalty right in the first minute; the announcer wasn’t finished with saying the penalty when Martin Buchwieser scored while falling after a shot from Ready for the early 0-1 lead.
After this goal, Munich was the dominant team but they were not able to score the second goal. In the 6^th minute Cologne started a fast break with Ullmann and Gogulla, Gogulla scored alone in front of the net. But Munich wasn’t shocked, with the direct counterattack, David Wrigley scored after a beautiful no-look-pass from Dylan Gyori.
Ten minutes later Cologne had a powerplay situation and Classen finished a nice combination to make it 2-2. In the second period, Munich were the dominating team and with another powerplay goal the former Sharks-player Sören Sturm scored for the 2-3. And there was even time for another goal when another ex-Cologne player Stephan Julien scored the 2-4.
In the last period, Cologne tried everything to score a goal, but with a lack of luck and missing the chances while shooting over and past the empty goal a few times. On the other side, Eric Schneider marked with an empty-netter, 2-5 the final score.
At the home game against Hannover, another rival for the playoffs, Munich was unable to call up this power. While the first period was nearly equal, Munich broke apart in the second after an own goal from Goalie Elwing. After this, Hannover scored two other goals and Munich and 4255 fans where left very disappointed with the result of 0-3 and the game of the home team.

For the upper-Bavarian-derby in Ingolstadt, Munich wanted to forget the last game. Especially Elwing who had to play at his best to gain another victory against another playoff rival. In the first period, Gyori scored the first during a powerplay, but Ingolstadt did hit equalizer with a nice cross-pass from Motzko to Waginger 10 Minutes later.
In the second period, the Panther got the lead when Greilinger scored, but 5 Minutes in to the third period Wrigley scored the 2-2. This result remained also during the overtime. And so the game went to the shoot-out. There, 14 shooters missed before Kyle Helms netted the puck into the Ingolstadt goal. And with the save from Elwing for the last penalty against Hussey, Munich won the first game after a shootout.
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