Today against Slovakia, the first tournament win is expected / SPORT1 will be broadcast live from 17.15:XNUMX p.m
Wipe your mouth, carry on! That's exactly the motto of the German national ice hockey team this Saturday when they play in the second game Deutschland Cup against Slovakia (17.30 p.m., live on SPORT17.15 from 1 p.m.). After the 2-3 defeat against Switzerland at the start of the tournament, national coach Marco Sturm's team now wants to achieve their first win under their new coach.
"Overall, I was happy with the performance of my boys. They were ready from the start and invested a lot," said Sturm after his debut as national coach, but had to admit that "Switzerland was a bit cleverer." The big difference between the two teams: While the German selection missed a number of good scoring opportunities, especially in the power play, especially in the first period, the Swiss were more cunning with one more man on the ice.
Sturm saw it similarly: “From the second third onwards the opponent became more aggressive. We lost our legs a little. So Switzerland forced us to take penalties.” Keeper Dennis Endras echoed the same sentiments. The Mannheim goalkeeper said: “The special teams were crucial. This is actually mostly the case internationally. Switzerland simply made better use of its power play. We perhaps could have scored one or two more goals at the start. If it had been 2-0 it would have been difficult for the opponent. However, with the equalizer we brought Switzerland back into the game.”
The hosts have an opponent waiting for them today in Slovakia, who also lost the day before. It suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat against Team USA. The recipe against the Slovaks? “We have to do the little things right and try to deliver our performance over 60 minutes and not allow ourselves any timeouts,” demands defender Sinan Akdag.
As announced, national coach Sturm is relying on the rotation principle and building his team in several positions in the second game. Kai Hospelt, Leo Pföderl and Sebastian Uvira slide for that HamburgThe trio Jerome Flaake, Marcel Müller and David Wolf are in the squad, as is defender Benedikt Kohl, who will replace Bernhard Ebner. There are therefore new formations in both attack and defense. Dennis Endras starts again in goal, Mathias Niederberger will change as the second goalkeeper today.