Bremerhaven made it to the DEL play-off final for the first time

The Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven have reached the play-off final of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) for the first time in the club’s history. The team from Seestadt won 3-0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0) on Tuesday against defending champions EHC Red Bull Munich with former national coach Toni Söderholm.

The team from the north surprisingly won the best-of-seven series 4-1. The opponents will be the Eisbären Berlin or the Straubing Tigers starting next Wednesday. The capital club is currently leading 3-1 in the semi-final series.

As in game three in Bremerhaven, Munich started a little more energetically. The few chances were no problem for Penguins goalkeeper Kristers Gudlevskis. “It’s an incredibly disciplined team. “They don’t give us many chances,” Munich defender Les Lancaster confirmed to MagentaSport after the first third.

Too many penalty times

Tough in front of his own goal, ice cold in front of the Munich goal: Jan Urbas, the best DEL scorer in the regular season with 21 goals and 31 assists, gave coach Thomas Popiesch’s team the lead with a well-placed shot (32nd minute).

In the final third, the guests from the Isar pressed. The once again outstanding goalkeeper Gudlevskis and a strong Penguins defense prevented the equalizer several times. In addition, the Munich team weakened themselves due to penalty times. With two more players on the ice, Phillip Bruggisser made it 2-0 (51st).

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Munich, with a double majority, missed the goal in the final minutes. Bruggisser again decided the game for the Pinguins from Bremerhaven shortly before the end with his second goal of the game and ensured Munich’s first knockout in a DEL semi-final.