Maximilian Kastner saw things that he liked late Friday evening. “Lots of bowed heads” struck the EHC Red Bull Munich striker as he looked towards his opponents in the final third. After Munich’s 4-0 home win, Kastner had the feeling that the Fischtown-Pinguins’ players were “a bit broken”. Kastner saw them again on Sunday afternoon, their heads bowed on the Bremerhaven side. The EHC won 2:1 away in game six of the playoff quarter-final series and thus made the semi-finals in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) perfect.
For Munich it was the successful end of a series that had started badly. Or, to put it in the words of Chris DeSousa, who scored the decisive 2-1 on Sunday: “You were shocked” after the first two games. The EHC had lost this, which put him under pressure – but he withstood it. “We couldn’t have reacted better,” said DeSousa on Sunday at Magentasport, “we’ve played great ice hockey in the last four games.”
Munich coach Don Jackson was also relieved. “We had to find another level at one point in the series because Bremerhaven pushed us,” he said. “We needed six games, but it could have been seven.” The main round winner needed two games to get into the series. “We weren’t in playoff mode then,” said EHC striker Justin Schütz. After the two opening defeats, however, Munich’s dominance flashed: 16:3 was the goal difference in the four EHC victories in a row.
Munich now have a few days to recover from the quarter-finals. They continue on Friday when they start the semi-finals with a home game. The opponent will then either come from Straubing or Wolfsburg. The Lower Saxony won 4:3 after extra time on Sunday evening, equalized to 3:3 – and thus forced a decisive seventh game. In the second semi-final series, ERC Ingolstadt, who bought their ticket on Friday, will face the Adlern Mannheim, who won their series against the Kölner Haie 4:2 on Sunday.
Fischtown manager Alfred Prey describes the EHC as the “super team of the league”
As in the previous games, Bremerhaven found it difficult to spend time in the Munich third for a long time on Sunday, as the EHC not only acted very physically there and made sure that goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger was not often asked at the beginning. With the first third siren it was clear that the Munich team had kept their goal clean for five thirds in a row. Two EHC players in the penalty box put Bayern in a difficult situation at the beginning of the middle third – and also behind, as Phillip Bruggisser made it 1-0 for Bremerhaven with a direct acceptance (24th). Shortly afterwards things could have looked even worse from a Munich perspective, but Niederberger thwarted a solo effort by Jan Urbas (25th). “We want to increase our self-confidence over the course of the game,” said Fischtown coach Thomas Popiesch before the game, a 2-0 lead would certainly have helped.
Instead, it was 1-1 shortly afterwards, as Yasin Ehliz overcame Fischtown keeper Maximilian Franzreb (30th). After the equalizer, the EHC made it clear why Fischtown manager Alfred Prey described him as the “superteam of the league”: the pressure increased, but either Franzreb stood his ground or the post saved the hosts, as in the case of Daryl Boyle’s shot (40th). .
Another observation from Kastner on Friday was: “We know that we are in better shape physically and conditionally.” That wasn’t really obvious at the beginning of the final third on Sunday, Bremerhaven put the pressure on and again had a great chance to take the lead through Urbas. But the Slovenian failed again at Niederberger (47th) – which he acknowledged by shaking his head on the bench. A little later, the former EHC player had to watch as Chris DeSousa scored the series-defining 2-1 (52nd). Which in turn brought Kastner to the conclusion: “Now we have found our way.”
