After a self-sacrificing struggle, ERC Ingolstadt has achieved its first victory in the final series for the championship in the German Ice Hockey League. The Ingolstadt team defeated the favored EHC Red Bull Munich 4:3 (2:2, 0:1, 2:0) and thus won the third game of the best-of-seven final series.
The EHC won the first two games 2:1 and 7:1. Ingolstadt has the chance to equalize the series on Friday (7.30 p.m. / MagentaSport).
“I’m so exhausted, I need a day or two to realize all this,” said Ingolstadt’s goalie Jonas Stettmer, who showed a very strong performance in his DEL debut, at MagentaSport: “Now I’m just happy that we got the first win.” Munich’s Maximilian Daubner didn’t want to deal with the setback for long and announced: “We want to strike back immediately on Friday.”
Ingolstadt puts pressure on right away
The 5728 spectators in the Munich hall saw a fast-paced game from the start. It was obvious to the Ingolstadt team that they wanted to show a reaction after the clear home defeat. Wojciech Stachowiak gave the ERC the lead with his second goal in the final series (6th minute).
It took Munich a little to get into the game. “Ingolstadt came out brutally, so we have to find a way. That’s not so good of us so far,” said Justin Schütz during the first third. Almost out of nowhere, Benjamin Smith equalized for the title favorite (10th).
But the Ingolstadt team didn’t let a goal concede upset them this time. Frederik Storm scored in the majority (16th) – it was the first goal for Ingolstadt with a man more on the ice after six matches. As in the first two playoff finals, the Munich team presented themselves extremely efficiently. Schütz made it 2-2 (20′) just before the first break.
Strong premiere from Stettmer
Ingolstadt’s goalkeeper Stettmer completed his first DEL start in a final game. But the 21-year-old was unimpressed and made a strong save. Stettmer is usually only the number three goalkeeper in Ingolstadt behind the injured Michael Garteig and the ailing Kevin Reich.
However, the youngster couldn’t prevent the 2:3 from the point of view of the Ingolstadt team. A shot from Munich captain Patrick Hager hit the glove of ERC defender Mathew Bodie and from there into the goal (38′). The Ingolstadt team were the better team in the second period, which Munich attacker Andreas Eder also noticed: “To be honest, we were the worse team in the second period.”
In the last third, Ingolstadt fought selflessly – and were rewarded. Stachowiak scored to make it 3:3 (55th). Tye McGinn made the brilliant comeback of the ERC perfect (56th). The Munich team tried to come back, but the Ingolstadt team managed to keep the narrow lead over time.
