Dresden‘s DEL debut ended in defeat Saturday as the Eislöwen fell 4-2 to Ingolstadt, despite a spirited comeback attempt. the game, played in front of a fervent home crowd, marked Dresden’s first-ever home fixture in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Germany’s top-tier ice hockey league.
The loss underscores the challenge facing Dresden as they navigate their inaugural DEL season. While facing formidable opponents like the defending champion Berlin and Ingolstadt-the previous season’s top team in the preliminary round-was expected to be difficult, the Eislöwen will need to secure points against more evenly matched teams to contend for a playoff spot.
Ingolstadt took an early lead with goals from Smallwood and Krauß, responding to an initial goal by Dresden coach Niklas Sundblad-who notably won the German championship with Ingolstadt in 2014 and scored the first DEL goal in Dresden’s history.
Emil Johansson’s goal with eight minutes remaining ignited the arena and tied the game at 2-2, bringing Dresden within reach of a point. However, Ingolstadt’s Tropmann quickly regained the lead, and Breton sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final moments.
Following the match,forward Niklas Postel acknowledged the team’s progress in their defensive zone,stating to Magenta Sport,”The biggest step we took today was in our own zone.” He added, “We now need to focus on adapting to the league and earning points.”
Dresden’s next opportunity to achieve that comes Thursday with a road game against the Löwen Frankfurt, who suffered significant losses in their first two games of the season, falling 9-1 to Wolfsburg and 2-1 to Straubing.