Düsseldorf (dpa / lhe) - The Frankfurt Lions are threatened with the end of the season in the German Ice Hockey League. At the start of the first playoff round at Düsseldorfer EG on Tuesday, the promoted team suffered a bitter 0:5 (0:0, 0:3, 0:2) defeat and is therefore under pressure to win in the second game of the "Best of three" series. Another defeat on Friday in front of a home crowd would mean the end of all quarter-final dreams for the Hessians. If they win, there will be another decider next Sunday in Düsseldorf.
DEG was clearly the better team and dominated Frankfurt, where top scorer Dominik Bokk was still injured. Alexander Blank (32nd minute) released the favorites with the lead, a little later Cedric Schiemenz (34th) deflected a shot from Alec McCrea into the net. According to video evidence, the referees did not decide on a high stick and the already limited lions were out of the game.
A blatant mistake by goalkeeper Jake Hildebrand enabled Stephen MacAulay (37th) to make the preliminary decision in the middle section. Düsseldorf's captain Alex Barta (44th) in his 1004th DEL game and Daniel Fischbuch (57th) increased in the final third.
