4:2 against Slovakia / Chance to defend title against US boys
Defiant reaction after the opening defeat: 24 hours after the 2:3 against Team Switzerland, the national ice hockey team came to the Deutschland Cup in Augsburg to a safe 4:2 (2:0, 2:0, 0:2) against Slovakia. For the team of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB) it was the first victory under their new national coach Marco Sturm. This means that the German team still has a good chance of successfully defending their title in the final game against Team USA on Sunday (16.45:1 p.m., live on SPORTXNUMX).
In contrast to the previous day, national coach Sturm had changed his formations in some positions as planned. Benedikt Kohl, Kai Hospelt, Leo Pföderl and Sebastian Uvira were added to the squad. Mathias Niederberger took the bench spot as the second keeper behind Dennis Endras, who had already been in the German goal on Friday.
In front of 4.739 spectators, Germany started the game at a good pace. It had only been 53 seconds played when newcomer Brooks Macek put the German colors in front. The Iserlohner made it 1-0. Philip Gogulla provided the template that was worth seeing. It was Macek's first international goal in his second appearance for the German team.
Shortly after Dominik Kahun's shot at the post, Yasin Ehliz made it 2-0. The attacker from Nuremberg was spot on when Stephan Daschner shot and deflected the ball into an unsustainable position. Here too, Macek was able to have a template written for him.
After the first change, the German selection picked up where they left off in the first third: Benedikt Kohl simply brought the disc from the blue line in front of the Slovakian goal, which was guarded by Michal Dzubina, making it 3-0. Gogulla used a remarkable move over Felix Schütz and Macek to make it 4-0. With luck and skill, Dzubina prevented Germany's fifth goal against the completely unmarked Daniel Pietta.
The Slovaks didn't give up and shortly after the last break Martin Bakos made it 4-1, which was followed by Reway's second Slovakian goal two minutes before the end.
National coach Marco Sturm: “It was a compact and good team management. We actually progressed except for a few short phases in the game, showed structured ice hockey and were able to improve over long stretches of the game compared to the day before. Then in some situations you have luck on your side. Overall, I'm very happy with my boys' performance. We were organized and acted as a unit. Of course it would be nice if we could still have the chance to win the tournament.”
Captain Patrick Reimer (Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers): “It was a compact team performance. We actually allowed our opponents few chances throughout the entire period and created a lot of good opportunities up front. It was important that we implemented our system with concentration and didn't let up. This is how you have to appear internationally.”
Philip Gogulla (Kölner Haie): “That was an increase in performance. We didn't play that badly against Switzerland, but not over the entire period. The interaction worked well not only in our series. All parts of the team were good. It doesn’t matter who ultimately scores the goals.”
Germany: Endras (Niederberger) – Mo. Müller, Ankert; Goc, cabbage; Akdag, Boyle; Daschner – Uvira, Hospelt, Pföderl; Gogulla, Schütz, Macek; Ehliz, Hager, Reimer; Pietta, Kahun, Krämmer
Goals: 1:0 Brooks Macek (0:53), 2:0 Yasin Ehliz (14:07/PP1), 3:0 Benedikt Kohl (24:58), 4:0 Philip Gogulla (28:11), 4: 1 Martin Bakos (41:01), 4:2 Martin Reway (57:44)
Audience: 4.739
The official game statistics can be found here: http://stats.iihf.com/deb/28/index.html