There was something going on: Around 1,600 spectators watched the EC Peiting play-off game against the “Tilburg Trappers” on Sunday evening.
The hosts started furiously and won.
Peiting – The EC Peiting players quickly disappeared from the ice after the final siren.
But then they returned for a lap of honor, waved to the well-filled grandstand with 1600 spectators.
With a strong performance, which resulted in a 4:2 home win over the "Tilburg Trappers", the ECP had equalized 1:1 in the play-off round of sixteen in the Oberliga.
The next game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21 at 8 p.m. in Tilburg.
Immediately after the first duel on Friday, ECP coach Anton Saal had not promised too much with regard to the home game: "We will be ready," he announced.
And how ready the people of Peiting were.
The first shots came from the "Trappers", but then the hosts set the tone.
Within twelve minutes, the Peitinger made a 3-0 lead.
ECP score three goals within twelve minutes
And they weren't random products, but well-played goals.
Tilburg had a huge chance before the 1-0 (5th minute), Felix Brassard successfully completed the counterattack via David Diebolder.
A little later Sean Morgan shot on goal;
Tilburg's keeper Cedrick Andree deflected the target exactly where Marco Niewollik was standing – 2-0 (7th).
Visiting coach Doug Mason took a break, but that didn't really get the guests going.
Although they showed good combinations, the ECP held back.
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After winning the puck in the neutral zone, Fabian Weyrich passed quickly to Brassard, who made it 3-0 (16th).
Tilburg now changed the keeper.
Then the first penalty time against the ECP, but this time the penalty killing worked better than on Friday.
"We did a lot of video study," Sean Morgan said in the Sprade TV break interview.
Tilburg Trappers show playful class, Peiting counters
In the middle section, the people from Peiting didn't let the Tilburg team develop much with consistent effort.
What came on goal was safe prey for ECP goalkeeper Florian Hechenrieder.
On the other side, Marc Besl and Thomas Heger, among others, had good chances.
Several controversial decisions and penalties by the referees against the hosts played into the hands of the Tilburg team.
With a double advantage, Mikko Virtanen reduced the lead to 1:3 (35th).
Previously, outnumbered, Peiting's Tobias Beck had hit the post on a break.
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Tilburg supporters in Peiting: This group of Dutch ice hockey fans made themselves comfortable at "Café Central" the afternoon before the game.
They were impressed that some Peitinger fans traveled to Tilburg on Friday.
Therefore, according to their statement, they decided to pay a return visit.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
In the final section, Tilburg put pressure on, the ECP held back with a lot of fight and commitment.
A power play offered a bit of a breather (46').
After a Tilburg shot on the boards, Diego Hofland reduced the lead to 2:3 (51st).
Shortly thereafter, Heger narrowly missed a goal in a counterattack (52nd).
It went back and forth as a result, Peiting was unable to use another power play (54th).
With two and a half minutes to go, Tilburg took the keeper off the ice for a sixth outfield player.
But Peiting's bulwark held, also because Hechenrieder parried a few times.
Diebolder made everything clear with the shot into the orphaned goal (60th).
David Diebolder made it 4-2 with 15 seconds to go
"We wanted to win today and we deserved it," said a visibly satisfied coach Saal.
At the beginning they did exactly what Tilburg demonstrated at home on Friday: "Full throttle for the first ten minutes and show them that it will be difficult to draw a game away from home." Visiting coach Doug Mason paid tribute to the ECP: "The fighting spirit of this team made the difference this time."
Statistics:
EC Peiting 4
Tilburg Trappers 2
(3:0, 0:1, 0:1)
1st period: 1:0 (4:24) Brassard (Diebolder), 2:0 (6:12) Niewollik (Morgan) , 3: 0 (15:10) Brassard (Weyrich).
2nd period: 3:1 (34:11) Virtanen (5-3).
3rd period: 3: 2 (50:17) Hofland, 4: 2 (59:45) Diebolder (empty net goal).
Penalty minutes: Peiting 8, Tilburg 6. Spectators: 1607.