BERLIN, Germany – After the last seconds were counted down and the horn was blowing, all players of the EHC Munich skated to their goalie Jochen Reimer, who once again, saved the game.
But to win, you also need to score.
And until this game, the EHC Munich had their problems with scoring goals. In all 2012 games, the EHC hadn’t scored a single goal on the road. But, Martin Buchwieser scored to make it 1-0 on the powerplay and Sören Sturm saved the 3 points with a goal to make it 2-1 just six minutes before the end.
It was a big night on the fight card too. Berlin ha four players injured and Sven Felski, their captain, was hit with a four-game penalty last week. So Berlin had to play with three forward lines while Munich had their full roster.
Additionally, Berlin had a game Thursday while Munich had the home game against Nuremberg.
The Icebears bought Jonathan Sim from Slavia Prag. Sim played in the NHL years ago, got Stanley Cup winner and was playing now for the Czechs. But he wasn’t able to bring his class to the ice.
Munich started very offensive and had a few good chances, while Berlin was shocked about the fearless guest team. But then, Felix Petermann was whistled for a penalty and this forced Munich into a defensive posture.
This situation was denied by Jochen Reimer and Munich started where they stopped before the penalty. The best chance in the first period had Eric Schneider, when he skated alone towards the goal of Rob Zepp, but his shot on the backhand was denied by the glove of the goalie. So the second period started with a goalless draw and Munich again created more and better chances than Berlin. As a result, Berlin got their first penalty, and as the worst team on the penalty-kill, everyone seemed to know what would happen. Especially Martin Buchwieser, he took position in the slot and was waiting for the puck. And he got it from Jason Ulmer and scored the first away goal in the year 2012 for the EHC Munich. With this 1-0 lead, the game went into the last period. Berlin wanted to strike back, but Munich defended perfectly and was fighting back with counter-attacks.
Eric Schneider had three big chances; also Ulli Maurer and Christian Wichert, but Rob Zepp denied all of them.
On the other side, Berlin got a powerplay situation, and with a blueliner from Richard Regear they scored the 1-1 after 53 minutes. But Munich wasn’t shocked and just 57 seconds later, Sören Sturm scored his first goal of the season for the 2-1 lead and the well-deserved win. Berlin tried with six skaters to score in the last two minutes but Reimer and his teammates blocked every shoot which came towards the goal.
Contact Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com
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