Eagles are facing playoff elimination
Polar bears hit their arch-rivals very late with double pain
March 24, 2024, 5:00 p.m
The Eisbären Berlin duel against Adler Mannheim is one of the most explosive in the German Ice Hockey League. The current playoff series is also tough. But it’s about to come to a quick end again.
The Adler Mannheim are threatened with an early exit in the playoff quarter-finals of the German Ice Hockey League in a duel with the Eisbären Berlin. Due to the narrow 1:3 (0:1, 0:0, 1:2) defeat against their arch rivals in front of their home crowd, the Mannheimers are behind 1:3 in the best-of-seven series. Coach Dallas Eakins’ team only won the first game 7-1.
In front of 13,600 spectators, German international Marcel Noebels took the lead in the 17th minute. The Mannheim team repeatedly created good opportunities. But they had to wait until the 52nd minute before Jordan Szwarz was able to overcome Eisbären goalkeeper Jake Hildebrand.
With the advantage, Tobias Eder put the guests back in the lead (58th) and just a minute later Manuel Wiederer made everything clear. At the final point, the Eagles had taken the goalkeeper off the ice. It is the ninth play-off duel between the two most successful clubs in DEL history. The Mannheimers, who started the series with a 7-1 away win, last triumphed against Berlin in 2002, after which they failed five times.
This time there’s just a little trouble
In the second game of the series, the rivalry between the two clubs flared up: Berlin striker Lean Bergmann, who only moved from Mannheim to the capital for the current season, cheered provocatively in the direction of the Mannheim fans after scoring a goal. The Mannheim striker Leon Gawanke then had a wild scuffle on the ice with his former colleague.
“If you mock our fans like that, then you should expect a reaction,” said Gawanke about the action on MagentaSport after the game. After serving his penalty, Bergmann was only allowed to get involved again in the final third and was from then on the bogeyman in the stadium. As a result, the Adler’s marketing department invited all fans to exchange Bergmann jerseys that they had previously purchased. The Berliners countered the campaign with discounts on the national player’s current jersey. This time too, Bergmann was involved in a brief argument, this time with David Wolf. In the middle of the first third, both opponents had to go to the penalty box.
The fifth game is next Tuesday (7.30 p.m./Magenta Sport) in Berlin. With a win, the club from the capital could move into the semi-finals and seal the Eagles’ early end to the season.