Monday, 05. January 2026 |
DEL preview, match day 37: EHC Red Bull München welcomes Eisbären Berlin
The start of the year in our living room on Sunday was closely contested, but ultimately did not yield any points from Munich's perspective. Mannheim made better use of their scoring opportunities and ultimately won 4-2.
The Eisbären, on the other hand, secured three points at home. After losing the first game of the new year 2-3 to the Löwen Frankfurt, Berlin prevailed against the Augsburger Panther 6-3.
“We had the chance to come back”
Both teams will start the last three-game week before the Olympic break with a direct matchup on Tuesday. Our team has played a total of eight games since December 18, sometimes having to do without seven regular players at the same time.
“Maybe you could tell that we've been playing with three lines for weeks and that our legs were a little heavy,” said Patrick Hager after the game against Mannheim. “And yet we still had a chance to come back at the end.” Despite a great fight, the equalizer in the power play two minutes before the end meant that it was not to be.
At least forward Adam Brooks returned to the lineup against the Adler.
Highlights: EHC Red Bull München vs. Adler Mannheim (04.01.2026)
// DEL - HIGHLIGHTS
Close leading group
With 71 points, we are currently ahead of Ingolstadt (68) in fourth place, with Straubing (also 71) and Mannheim (72) ahead of us. Cologne leads the table with an eight-point lead (80). “The top five are marching on this year, the teams are all neck and neck,” emphasized our captain. With a win, we want to put pressure on the trio ahead of us and, in the best case scenario, climb back to the top.
Berlin also plagued by injuries
Somewhat surprisingly, the Eisbären are not among the top teams so far. The reigning champions have 56 points and are currently seventh in the table. A number of injured regulars were and are one of the reasons why the team has not really gotten into gear yet.
Highlights: EHC Red Bull München vs. Eisbären Berlin (October 23, 2025)
// DEL - HIGHLIGHTS
Head coach Serge Aubin is currently still without captain and DEB defender Kai Wissmann and top forward Ty Ronning, among others, and for the past few days, forwards Manuel Wiederer and Markus Vikingstad have also been sidelined with leg injuries. As a result, former Munich defenseman Les Lancaster even had to help out in attack against Augsburg.
Nevertheless, the capital club secured its second win in the last eight games against the Panthers and should therefore travel to the Bavarian capital with confidence.
Goals galore: Kirk in impressive form
Goal scorer Liam Kirk will be there. The Briton now has 23 goals to his name, making him the league's most dangerous attacker behind Riley Barber (26, ERC Ingolstadt). And the Eisbären sniper is in impressive form: Kirk has scored twelve goals in his last nine games and has scored at least once in each of his last six games. These included two braces and a hat trick.
In most cases, the center of Berlin's first forward line receives passes from Leo Pföderl (34 points, 24 assists) and Frederik Tiffels (39 points, 31 assists).
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Our home game against the German champions from Berlin in pictures (October 23, 2025)
Red Bulls with a clean slate against the Eisbären
However, the Eisbären's strong offensive trio has not yet appeared against our team this season. We hardly allowed them any scoring chances in either the 3-2 home win on October 23 in Patrick Hager's 1,000th DEL game or the 3-1 away win in November in the German capital. That's also the plan for Tuesday.
DEL record against Berlin
Wins: 48
Losses: 34
Win percentage: 59 percent
Goal difference: 256:220
Last game: EBB vs. RBM 1:3
Last ten games: L L L L L W W L W W
Last ten home games: L L L W W L L L L W
Mit Video
Red Bulls unterliegen Mannheim im Verfolgerduell // DEL - SPIELBERICHT
Mit Video
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