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Done: Berlin is in the final for the championship
Photo:
Andreas Gora / dpa
Eisbären Berlin stopped Adler Mannheim's race to catch up in the semi-finals and made it into the final series of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) for the twelfth time.
The Berliners won the decisive fifth duel 3-0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0).
Manuel Wiederer (21st minute) and Blaine Byron (46th/60th) provided the necessary third win with their goals.
After the Berliners had taken the lead in the series with two wins, the defending champions had already looked like the certain finalists.
However, the Mannheimers had won matches three and four and forced the decisive duel with the 2:2 equalizer.
In the decisive game, the Adler played another hard-fought game in front of 10,035 fans, but didn't score a goal.
Both teams initially shied away from the risk.
Apart from hitting the crossbar, there weren't any clear chances to score before the first break.
But only 43 seconds after the restart, Wiederer gave the hosts the lead.
After a counterattack, the attacker used a cross pass from Kevin Clark.
Both opponents then created opportunities, but only the hosts scored.
Byron extended the lead as he first hit the bar and then sunk the rebound.
Shortly before the end, Byron hit the orphaned goal.
This Friday (7:30 p.m.; Stream: MagentaSport), the winner of the main round, Berlin, welcomes the runners-up in the main round, EHC Red Bull Munich, to the first final game.
The Munich team has been a finalist since last Sunday.
Unlike before the corona pandemic, the play-offs will be played in best-of-five instead of best-of-seven mode.
Three wins are necessary to win the championship.
sak/sid/dpa