Munich sting Scorpions - frozen by Penguins
Olympic Ice Stadium, Munich - With games fast running out in regular season, EHC Munich badly needed to take advantage of winnable home fixtures against Hannover Scorpions and Krefeld Penguins over the weekend to boost their play-off prospects.
EHC Munich sealed the first part of the deal with a deserved 4-2 (2:1/1:0/1:1) victory over bottom-of-the-table Hannover. Sören Sturm opened the scoring after only four minutes which gave Munich an optimum start after last week's disappointing drubbing against Iserlohn Roosters.
Six minutes later Ryan Maki tied the game for the Scorpions. Munich responded immediately and it took EHC only 17 seconds to regain the lead through David Wrigley. Eric Schneider gave Munich a two goal cushion before Sascha Goc reduced the arrears in the 46th minute to give the Scorpions a fighting chance. Munich's Jason Ulmer put the result beyond doubt with just four seconds remaining, scoring into an empty net to secure a valuable win against the struggling visitors.
EHC took on Krefeld Penguins on Sunday looking for back-to-back wins but slipped to a 1:3 (0:1/0:0/1:2) defeat. Eric Schneider scored EHC's only goal in a below-par display. EHC Coach Pat Cortina shrugged off the defeat and looked forward to the final four games of the regular season. "The strategy is to stay positive and keep working hard," he said.
EHC are back in action on Friday when they travel to ERC Ingolstadt for a local derby. Face-off is at 19:05 at the Saturn-Arena. Munich will look to return to winning ways in front of their own fans on Sunday March 4th against Berlin Polar Bears. Face-off is at 16:30.
