Adler Mannheim secured their place in the next round with a 6-2 road win against Esbjerg Energy. While the score looks convincing, however, Esbjerg led 2-1 in the second period and trailed by only a goal entering the third. Devin Setoguchi led the cavalry charge for the victors with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Adam Luke and Garrett Festerling each contributed 3 points. Carson McMillan had a goal and an assist for Esbjerg.

It took until just past the 13-minute mark for Mannheim to open the scoring on a perfect long-range shot by David Wolf. That was the only goal of the opening period, and then Esbjerg delighted their home fans by storming out of the gate in the second period and potting a pair of power-play goals. First, Felix Scheel found the puck in a scramble and fired it through a crowd to tie the score, and then four minutes later McMillan’s pass attempt hit the stick of a Mannheim penalty-killer and beat Chet Pickard to give Esbjerg the lead.

At that point, Mannheim stopped fussing around and got down to business. Chad Kolarik tied the score with a perfect shot just shy of the game’s midpoint with the teams skating 4-on-4, and then Adam’s deflection on the power play with 4:59 left in the middle frame but Mannheim ahead for good. They added three goals in the third period to round out the scoring.