Hammer Eisbären left Rostock with a 5-4 win in regulation, built on a front-loaded first two periods that gave them a cushion the Piranhas never quite erased. The visitors won each of the opening frames and then survived a one-goal third.
Hamm took the first period 3-2 and pushed it to 5-3 with a 2-1 edge in the second — that middle frame was the game. Rostock claimed the third 1-0 to get within one, but the deficit was already set.
The margin is in the periods: Hamm outscored Rostock 5-3 across the first 40 minutes, then went scoreless in the third and still held on. Four goals and a loss is the kind of night where the first two periods decide everything.