Heartbreaking Loss for the Hounds

„You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take“ … and sometimes even those you do take.  Monday, Oct 23 21:45 vs the Eisbären in Heilbronn was the kick-off for the 2017-2018 season for the Hounds1.

The Hounds were fortunate to escape the first period with a 2:2 tie.  The man between the Hounds pipes – Luke Castell Morley (#31) – kept his teammates in the game over the first 15, stoning some good scoring chances from the Eisbären.  Captain Tim Frey (#5) put the Hounds temporarily up by 1 at 2:1, after the Heilbronner opened the scoring on a pretty two way passing play between Alexander Ketterling (#21) and Marcel Müllner (#28).  The Bears tied things up on a nice set-up from Martin Stürmlinger (#55) to speedy center Jeremy Cuif (#51) at 12:27 in the first period.

The second period saw a turnaround for the Hounds.  Boasted by a 5 minute power play, the Hounds jumped to a 6:2 lead on goals by Tim Frey (2 to complete  his hat trick), Patrick Hanf (#11) and  Fabio Schubach.  The tide started to turn for the Eisbären with a power play marker of their own at 10:43 of the second by Sergej Kosenko (8).  6:3 Hounds lead after 2.

The Heilbronner came roaring out of the blocks in the last period, building off the momentum started at the end of the second. 0:22 into the third, the fourth marker by Andreas Lung (#33), followed closely a goal from Marcel Müllner (#28) on a nice one-timer at 2:53.  The momentum shift was evident on both benches.  The Eisbären then pushed hard for the equalizer and were rewarded at 8:24 on yet another one-timer, this time by Denis Bohr.   Not finished yet, the Bears added two more at 8:49 and 9:31, a second marker by Andreas Lung (#33) and the eventual winner by Sergej Kosenko (8), his second of the night.  The Hounds managed a power play marker at 14:54 from Markus Demel (#3) but it was too little too late.  Final score, a deserved comeback win, 8:7 for the Heilbronner.