Augsburg Panthers saw off Schwenningen 7:3 in their DEL opener on Saturday at the Sportpark Augsburg. The result leaves both sides level on zero points after one game each, though the hosts sit 12th and the visitors 14th in the early standings. By then the score had already settled any debate about who deserved to start the season brighter.
I had backed the away side at 48 per cent confidence, but the match refused to follow that line. And here's the thing — Schwenningen came in with a 6:3 win over Ravensburg the week before, yet couldn't find the same rhythm against a Panthers side that had lost 4:1 to Nürnberg just two days earlier. One mistake ends it in these opening rounds, and the visitors made too many of them.
The hosts took control early and tightened things up when Schwenningen pushed back. There was no tactical nuance to unpack, just a team that knew what it wanted and executed it. The visitors' recent results showed flashes — a 6:1 victory over Schur, a 3:4 loss to Ajoie — but none of that translated into structure against Augsburg's back line.
With both clubs sitting on zero points, this result shifts the early balance rather than reshaping the table. The hosts move to 12th on goal difference alone, while Schwenningen drop to 14th. The gap between them is still negligible, but the psychology of a seven-goal performance will linger longer than any points total.
What I remember is the opening period — not a single minute, but the way the hosts set their tempo and never let it drop. Schwenningen responded with urgency, but urgency without shape is just noise. The visitors threw everything at it in the second half, and it came back to haunt them. Three goals in the final ten minutes turned a comfortable lead into something that felt earned.
