League game number three, victory number three: EHC Red Bull Munich has confirmed its lead in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). Coach Don Jackson’s team won their away game at Schwenninger Wild Wings 2-1 (1-0, 0-0, 1: 1) on Thursday evening and thus scored nine out of nine possible points.
EHC goalkeeper Daniel Fießinger had a lot to do in the early stages of his season debut, because Schwenninger, who had just lost their first two games, put a lot of pressure on. The Munich team had traveled to the Black Forest without their top scorer Frederik Tiffels (tonsillitis) and needed a few minutes to adjust to the smaller ice surface. Then Frank Mauer, who made his season debut, Maximilian Kastner (both 8th) and Philip Gogulla, who replaced Tiffels in the front row (10th), tested Swedish Wild Wings goalkeeper Joacim Eriksson. Seven seconds before the first third break, the reigning DEL goalkeeper of the year was overcome: Trevor Parkes, top scorer of the past two seasons, kept the overview and saw the free defender Konrad Abeltshauser, who had defeated Eriksson by his legs (20th).
The middle third was characterized by a lot of speed, two strong goalkeepers and two Munich posts. Fießinger and Eriksson thwarted some good chances, Filip Varejcka (33rd) and Gogulla (40th) were unlucky that their attempts went to the bar. “There were far more chances on both sides than the intermediate result shows,” said EHC captain Patrick Hager Magenta Sports. He liked his team’s performance on the offensive. When Kastner pushed the disc over the line to make it 2-0 (53rd), the relief at the EHC, which receives the Straubing Tigers for the Bavarian derby on Sunday (4.30 p.m.), was great. Niclas Burström 1: 2 (60th) no longer hurt the EHC.