Krefeld Pinguine beat Ingolstadt 3:1 in the DEL on Thursday evening, a result that defied the early expectations of a visitors' victory. The home side took control from the first period and never looked back, finishing with a comfortable margin that will do little to ease the pressure on their coaching staff. To be fair, Ingolstadt had shown glimpses of improvement in their last outing, but this was not the match they needed to build momentum.
And here's the thing about matches like this — they are decided in the opening exchanges. Krefeld scored early, which shifted the tempo entirely, and Ingolstadt spent the rest of the evening chasing the game. The visitors managed one reply, but it came too late to alter the narrative. By then the home crowd had settled into a rhythm that simply would not let up.
Both sides enter this fixture with identical records: four games, two wins, two losses, zero points. The standings tell us very little at this stage of the DEL season, but the recent form tells a clearer story. Krefeld had won three of their last five, including that emphatic 6:3 against Straubing Tigers, while Ingolstadt's run was harder to piece together — a narrow win over Adler Mannheim followed by heavy defeats.
We had backed the visitors at 71 per cent confidence, but the game refused to follow that script. Ingolstadt lost their man in the second period and Krefeld hit them on the break, a moment that gave nothing away on paper but changed everything in practice. The away side will make life awkward for themselves if they cannot match that intensity.
The result leaves Krefeld breathing a little easier in sixth place, while Ingolstadt remain rooted in twelfth. Neither team carries points yet, but the psychological weight of a home victory is heavier than any table position at this stage. Krefeld extended their unbeaten run in this fixture, and that history between them adds an edge to what comes next.
