Munich in the middle of cat fight, travel to Augsburg Panthers for Derby tonight

Olympia Eissportzentrum, January 28 - EHC München were looking to win against Straubing, coming off a two game losing streak. The Tigers were made to pay, as Munich put a beat down on their guests 5-1 Friday night.

The first period seemed as though it would be another home loss for Munich. The Tigers came out looking like they wanted to win. From the start of the game it showed that the Tigers were going to play tough offense and defense. "Early into the game it was very clear that Straubing was the better team," said head coach Pat Cortina. Towards the end of the first period it was anyone's guess who would walk away with the win. Both teams had several good opportunities to score but nothing would go in. It wasn't until Dylan Gyori's breakaway with 2:29 left in the first period that there would be points on the board. Gyori's score gave Munich the lead 1-0. "We scored the first goal and that took a little pressure off of us and we started to play a little more," said Cortina. The first period ended with Munich leading 1-0 and both teams having only one power play each.  

The second period was much more eventful. The first ten minutes were very physical which was evident due to the increase in penalties from the Tigers. It wasn't until the Tigers committed their second penalty in the 8th minute of play that Munich's luck started to get better, beginning with their second power play. Eric Schneider scored the advantaged goal, making it 2-0.  Almost exactly 3 minutes after Schneider's goal, the Tigers scored on a penalty. The Tigers had already begun celebrating when the goal was questioned and the referees had to review it. After reviewing the video of the play, the referees disallowed the goal leaving Munich with the 2-0 lead. The Tigers were not slacking off; they had several breakaways but were unable to score. As Cortina said, "We were lucky to find goals at the right time."  As luck would have it with 12.2 seconds left in the second period Martin Buchwieser scored giving Munich a comfortable 3-0 lead.

As the third period started, Munich had a comfortable lead but would not allow themselves to get lazy and lose the game. Munich was so determined to win that they were especially physical on defense. It showed, because the Tigers had no penalties whereas Munich had 3. With 11:46 left in the game Martin Schymainski was able to extend Munich's lead to 4-0. Although the Tigers had three very good opportunities with three power plays, Munich's Sebastian Elwing was determined to win.

With almost only 10 minutes left in the game, Eric Schneider received a 2 minute penalty for interference, giving the Tigers their second power play of the third period. Fortunately for Munich, they were able to hold off the Tigers just long enough for Schneider to get back on the ice and score for Munich's fifth and final goal. Thirteen seconds after Schneider's goal, the Tigers' Dustin Whitecotton scored, preventing Munich from winning via shutout. Munich ended the game wining 5-1.

Sebastian Elwing was the star player for Munich as he stopped 29 of the 30 shots from the Tigers. "Our best man on the ice was Sebastian, he was unbelievable for us, he gave us a chance to find our legs and get into the game," said Cortina.

EHC continue their feline weekend with a derby match tonight at Augsburg.

(Editor's note: Salman Mitha will be tweeting tonight from Augsburg, follow the action @sal_TMT_sports.)

EHC's next home game is February 18th at 7:30pm against the Hanover Scorpions.