The negative series of EHC Red Bull Munich against Adler Mannheim continues. On Thursday, the EHC lost the top game of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) against the Adler at home with 2: 5 and thus lost for the sixth time in a row against the Kurpfälzer team across all seasons. At home it was even the ninth defeat in a row against the Adler, which, in front of FC Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, took the Munich championship lead off the table. “In the second period we completely lost the thread,” said Munich defender Yannic Seidenberg, “if we invite them to score, they take advantage of it.”
Munich coach Don Jackson provided a particularly emotional top game last Sunday when he abruptly left the press conference after the 3-2 defeat in Mannheim. He had previously accused the Adler attacker Matthias Plachta of having been betrayed twice in his career by his “swallows”. Plachta said on Thursday that you have to respect everyone’s opinion. Munich’s captain Patrick Hager added that if Jackson saw it that way, he had a reason to be. EHC manager Christian Winkler did not want Jackson’s statements “to hang too high. We discussed and clarified this internally, it is a thing of the past for us,” he said at Magentasport.
In the starting third, the focus was not on Plachta, but on Adler goalkeeper Dennis Endras. In minute four he applied for the parade of the year with a sensational stick parade against former eagle captain Ben Smith. Less than a minute later, Ilari Melart completed an Adler counterattack on a pass from Plachta to make it 1-0 (5th). Yannic Seidenberg got the Munich 1: 1 (8th) with a Schlenzer.
Although it was their fourth game in seven days for the Munich team, they made the fresher and livelier impression in the starting third. Their forechecking was good and they created very good chances, but Endras destroyed five top chances of the EHC in the first 20 minutes alone. Shortly before the first third break, Lean Bergmann again scored the Mannheim 2-1 (20th) on a counterattack.
The game is similar to Sunday, only a little faster, said Mannheims Melart. And the Mannheimers were the team that used the pace in their favor. Nigel Dawes marked the 3: 1 (22nd), Jordan Szwarz put the 4: 1 for the Adler after some nice preparatory work by Dawes (26th).
Dawes and Szwarz were the two attackers who had already sealed the Munich defeat with their goals on Sunday. The high deficit brought the EHC off-track, there were always gaps on the defensive, such as a shot from the post by Bergmann (29th). “They take their chances, we don’t,” said Trevor Parkes after the middle third. Daryl Boyle shortened to 2: 4 in the final third (49th), but Andrew Desjardins made everything clear with the 5: 2 into the orphaned Munich goal (60th). The EHC will continue on Friday (7.30 p.m.) with the home game against Schwennninger Wild Wings.