Kölner Haie 4 Krefeld Pinguine 0
Kölner Haie kept a clean sheet against Krefeld Pinguine in a club friendly on Friday, winning 4-0 at home. The result comes a week after the hosts lost 3-1 to Iselhorn Ruster, and by then you could see they wanted to put things right. The draw brought them together early in the pre-season schedule, and this time the visitors had nothing to do all evening.
Krefeld had come into the match with momentum, beating Valerenga 6-2 just the day before. To be fair, they'd shown similar output in April with five straight wins against Kassel. But this was a different kettle of fish, and the visitors were second to everything from the opening whistle. The history between them adds an edge, but on this occasion it didn't matter.
Kölner have hit a wall in recent months, losing four of their last five games against Eisbären Berlin. The captain dragged them through it last season, but by then the writing was on the wall. This 4-0 performance against a side that had been scoring freely suggests a different mindset in the dressing room. One or two chances were created, but the home side made the difference when it counted.
The recent form for both sides tells its own story. Krefeld's run of five wins in April was impressive, but that price has gone after this display. Kölner's losses to Eisbären were hard to watch, and this clean sheet was long overdue. The goal difference of four goals tells you who controlled proceedings.
Neither team is in the table yet — fourth place with zero games and zero points means the season has just started. What this friendly does is give both coaches something to work with. Kölner will take confidence from the scoreline, while Krefeld need to address what went wrong against a side that had nothing to do all evening.