Home After the Holidays
EHC still searching for first victory in 2011
Olympia Eissportzentrum, January 9 - EHC München spent the holidays on the road and after winning all three, there was some hope that home-cooking in the new year would keep the wins coming. On Sunday night EHC suffered their second straight penalty shootout loss at home and are still looking for their first win in 2011.
On Wednesday, EHC had the stamina to lead most of the game but in the end Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg won 4-3 in a shootout. Munich started the game with as much energy as Wolfsburg but was not as physical which kept Munich from scoring. David Wrigley did take advantage of a power play and scored the first goal of the game and gave Munich the momentum to continue to play with the same intensity. As head coach Pat Cortina said, "We battled Wolfsburg extremely hard. We played the way we had to play to give ourselves the chance to win the game."
Munich started the second period with the continuation of the power play from the first period and took full advantage of the situation. Martin Schymainski scored with 45 seconds still left in the power play making it 2-0, but that was the last time that Munich would be able to capitalize on a power play. With 12:46 left in the second period Norm Milley scored Wolfsburg's first goal of the game making it 2-1. The visitors continued to play very physically which lead to another goal by Jeff Hoggan with 10:35 left in the second period, which tied the game.
Munich were determined not to let Wolfsburg control the match and with 5:39 left in the period Mike Kompon scored to regain the lead with 3-2. Penalties were abundant but most of them came from Munich as opposed to the first period which consisted of only penalties from the Grizzlies.
In the third period Munich were unsuccessful on offense with a scoreless period but was able to prevent Wolfsburg from taking over the lead. Wolfsburg was unable to take advantage of any of their 4 power plays in the game. "Wolfsburg is one of the best power play teams in the league and we killed all of their power plays" said Cortina. Three minutes into the third period Wolfsburg's Hoggan scored his second goal of the night tying the game at 3-3. No one would be able to score again in the third period which brought on overtime.
OT seemed to wake up Munich because they were making so many shot attempts. It seemed as though Munich really wanted to win but Wolfsburg's goalies would not let anything by them. Munich had an opportunity to win the game with a power play but was unsuccessful. "We did a good job in the defensive zone," said Cortina. Munich played a much more physical game than they have in the past. "That's part of competing and that's part of what you have to do to have a chance against Wolfsburg," stated Cortina. The game ended in a shootout resulting in Wolfsburg winning on what was called a technical goal because the net was moved after Munich blocked Robbie Bina's shot.
The next match wasn't quite at home but it was a Bavarian Derby on Friday as EHC traveled up to Nuremberg and lost to the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers 3-2. Eric Chouinard scored a goal and added 2 assists in the Ice Tigers' second win over EHC this season. The teams will not face each other this season, unless they meet up in the playoffs.
Munich were back home last night and the match was a repeat of Wednesday - a tight, back-and-forth battle that lead to a penalty shootout and a Munich loss. Down 2-1 going into the second period, Martin Buchwieser scored two goals and added an assist to give the home side a 4-3 lead going into the final period. Once again, EHC could not hold the lead, and couldn't get the winner in OT or the penalty. The win puts the Ice Bears on top of the DEL table. Munich are now fifth, 9 points behind Berlin.
EHC return to action next weekend with a home-and-home against the Metro Stars of Dusseldorf. Face off at the Olympia Eissportzentrum on Friday is at 19:30, with the return match in Dusseldorf on Sunday at 14:30.
