DEL preview, matchday 49: EHC Red Bull München hosts Eisbären Berlin

Thursday, 27. February 2025 | DEL preview, matchday 49: EHC Red Bull München hosts Eisbären Berlin

Spectacular start to the last home weekend: Red Bulls welcome Berlin // DEL - PREVIEWThe PENNY DEL main round is on its home straight. This weekend, our Red Bulls will play their last two home games before the playoffs. It starts on Friday at 7.30 pm with a cracker against the Eisbären Berlin.

The SAP Garden is already sold out against the reigning champions and also on Sunday (7:15 pm) against Adler Mannheim. A total of 10,796 spectators found their way to the Red Bulls' DEL home games at the end of the main round, completely filling the arena. As usual, you can watch both games live on MagentaSport, Sportdeutschland.TV or on our blog. The Eisbären are once again among the favourites for the title this season - even if victory in the main round is only theoretically possible after Wednesday's 3-1 defeat at leaders ERC Ingolstadt. Behind the runners-up, the Red Bulls are in a race for third place with Mannheim and Bremerhaven. Our boys will be looking to follow up their 5:3 derby win against the Augsburg Panthers. Chris DeSousa will once again play a key role.

DeSousa is sure-footed even without a recipe for success

Since Don Jackson has been back on the sidelines, DeSousa - after his already strong performances to date - has really gone into a frenzy. Our top scorer has scored 16 points in these ten games. He has no explanation for his peak form: "I'm not really doing anything differently than usual. Things are just going well for us in the series." The Canadian gets on blindly with Taro Hirose and Yasin Ehliz.

Highlights: Augsburger Panther vs. EHC Red Bull München (23.02.2025)

// DEL - HIGHLIGHTS

The result is 26 goals in 48 games. Only Trevor Parkes (28 goals, 2019/20) and Austin Ortega (27 goals, 2022/23) have scored more often for our club in a DEL main round. DeSousa still has four matchdays to overtake the two: "But reaching that mark would be special, of course."

Only one player has scored more often than our number 82 this season: Eisbär Ty Ronning has already scored 32 times. He also has 31 assists. The fact that the US-American still doesn't lead the scoring charts is due to the equally outstanding season of his teammate Leo Pföderl (66 points). Gabriel Fontaine and Liam Kirk also average just under one scoring point per game. The Eisbärem are extremely strong in offense in particular.

Highlights: Eisbären Berlin vs. EHC Red Bull München (23.01.2025)

// DEL - HIGHLIGHTS

Wissmann bulwark and a small construction site

Kai Wissmann is the figurehead in defence. The German international stands for uncompromising and clever defensive play. This season, the man with the back number 6 has also shone as one of the best defencemen in the DEL in terms of points. You have to look for weaknesses in the Eisbären for a long time.

If you absolutely want to identify a weak spot, then at least statistically in goal: the number one Jake Hildebrand is playing below the level of last season (save percentage: 88.9 per cent). On Wednesday in Ingolstadt, Jonas Stettmer (90.7 per cent) was preferred for the 15th time this season.

Stettmer was also in the box for the only Eisbären win this season against the Red Bulls. Recently, our boys have won twice in a row - also because DeSousa scored the decisive penalty in the most recent duel (3:2 n. P.). On Friday, our boys want to complete the hat-trick of wins. DeSousa explains how to do it: „We have to play our game for the full 60 minutes. In ice hockey, mistakes are crucial - and we want to be the team that makes fewer of them.“

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The top match in the German capital in pictures

DEL record against Eisbären Berlin

Wins: 46 Defeats: 33 Winning percentage: 58 per cent Goal difference: 248:214 Last game: EBB vs RBM 2:3 (a. P.) Last ten games: W W W L L L L L W W Last ten home games: W L L L L W W L L L