Lean Bergmann scored the game-winning goal and Felix Brückmann made 24 saves to hand Adler Mannheim the victory over Lausanne HC and secure a 2021/22 Playoff qualification place.

If not for some goaltending wizardry, this Swiss-German fixture could've easily evolved into a multi-goal affair after the first 20 minutes.  

Lausanne tested Brückmann to begin things but the German netminder stood tall in the early going. 61 metres away, veteran Tobias Stephan had his fair share of spectacular saves including robbing the visitors with a vintage windmill save on a chance in tight that left the German side looking to the rafters. 

With a surplus of highlight reel saves being served up in the first, it appeared as if both sides were destined to head into the locker rooms level at zero.

Except, with a little more than a minute to go, the dominoes began to fall for Lausanne: a failed clearing attempt led to a giveaway which led to Mannheim's Jordan Szwarz skating in uncontested to bury a wrister at 18:58, breaking the tie.

Play picked up where it left off, but some disciplinary issues would haunt both clubs in the second. 

First, Mannheim would give the hosts the initial powerplay of the game and an opportunity to tie - which is exactly what they did.

After falling victim to a failed clear, Lausanne would be the beneficiaries of one as Lukas Frick dished a feed to Benjamin Baumgartner who netted the equaliser from the right circle.

But the Swiss side's momentum would be shortlived. 

A dangerous hit in the corner by Fabio Arnold sent Moritz Wirth into the locker room and Arnold down the tunnel. From there, the visitors went on an extended man-advantage.

Lausanne needed their penalty killing unit to do their job and, at first, they did when Cory Emmerton backhanded a short-handed tally to give Lausanne the lead.

A lead that would last exactly 29 seconds when a Matthias Plachta one-timer jetted past Stephan to knot the game. The visitors made Lausanne pay on the powerplay again with a tuck at 29:43 from Lean Bergmann and with that, the Germans were up 3-2 with one period yet to play.

Mannheim maintained their pressure as puck dropped in the third. A fortuitous bounce found Bergmann in the slot who rifled it in, extending the visitors' lead to two.

Lausanne desperately tried to claw their way back, but Nigel Dawes would put the nail in the coffin with an empty-netter as Mannheim skated to their fourth win and fourth Playoff qualification - and third in a row - in their CHL tenure.