In the end, the little things made the difference: The U18 national team lost to Belarus 2016:18 (3:5; 1:2; 2:1) in the decisive game for promotion at the 0 IIHF U2 Ice Hockey World Championship Div.I in Minsk ) and thus misses the return to the top division.
The starting situation spoke in favor of the German team, as they had only lost one point against Kazakhstan (win after extra time) during the tournament and were otherwise able to defeat all nations in regular time. The hosts, on the other hand, suffered a defeat against Austria on the last matchday. Accordingly, it would have DEB-Selection only requires one point to take first place.
While the DEB-Selection seemed a bit inconsistent and unsettled, the hosts started the game optimally in the well-attended Minsk Arena with two goals in a very short space of time. First, Igor Martynov converted a failed build-up pass from the German backline into the far corner of the German goal (03:14). Almost 90 seconds later, Ilya Litvinov received a deflected shot from the blue line directly onto his goal and just had to push it in. But the German team didn't give up, but continued to create more chances. Shortly before the end of the first period, it was Niklas Postel who hit the target with his backhand into the corner with a wonderful solo against four Belarusians (18:26).
Right at the beginning of the second third, the German team had to accept another goal when they were outnumbered (23:10) before the comeback began. Thomas Reichel drained a shot from the blue line and Charlie Jahnke only had to score to make it 2-3. The team led by coach Rick Böhm and Thomas Schädler brought every target to the goal and thus kept the pressure high. The equalizer was brought by Christoph Kiefersauer (32:44), who, in the four-on-three power play, was free-standing in front of the goal with a wonderful pass through the goal area from Johannes Huss.
In the final period, it was again the hosts who had the better start. A deflected shot from the blue line landed in the slot, Sergei Pishuk reacted quickest and shot the Belarusians into the lead. The German team tried everything again, but could not find a way past the Belarusian back line. Igor Martynov then dashed all German hopes with his second goal of the evening (58:12) and thus secured Belarus' advancement.
Rick Böhm, coach of the U18 national team: “I think we were well prepared for the game, but we got off to a bad start. The team showed great spirit and was able to tie the game despite being behind. Nevertheless, Belarus had more chances to score overall and deserved to win in the end. We had the opportunity to win the tournament today, but unfortunately we didn't succeed in the end. Overall, we are satisfied with the team’s performance; the boys presented themselves well both off and on the ice.”
You can find detailed statistics about the game here