„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.