After 3:2 against Latvia / Kühnhackl with the winning goal / Grubauer strong again
Done! The German national ice hockey team has booked its ticket for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. On Sunday evening, national coach Marco Sturm's team defeated hosts Latvia 10.300:3 (2:1, 0:1, 1:1) in the all-important game in the Arena Riga, which was completely sold out with 0 spectators, and thus secured tournament victory after three successes . “We are all very relieved. I am very proud of the team’s performance,” said Sturm in his first reaction immediately after the game.
Sturm had sent exactly the same squad onto the ice against the home team that had already made short work of Japan (5:0) and Austria (6:0) in the previous encounters. Latvia, which loudly praised its own in front of a sold-out crowd Fans was cheered on, turned out to be the expected tough opponent. Keeper Philipp Grubauer's brilliant exploits at the start paved the way for Leon Draisaitl's opening goal in the power play. The NHL star directly sank a pass from Patrick Reimer.
Germany was able to celebrate again in the middle section. Felix Schütz was quickest in front of the Latvian goal and made it 2-0 for the guests with a rebound. The pressure from the host increased from then on. Grubauer did the hard work, but had no chance when the home team scored in their power play. It was the first goal conceded by the national team during the tournament after 155 minutes.
In the final half, Latvia put everything on one card offensively, while the German selection remained challenged on the defensive. But a good five minutes before the end of the game it was Tom Kühnhackl who scored the winning goal in the majority and thus bought the ticket to the Olympics.
The German North American protégés will travel from Riga via Frankfurt directly overseas on Monday morning. Dennis Seidenberg, Christian Ehrhoff, Tobias Rieder and Leon Draisaitl will then prepare for the World Cup of Hockey with Team Europe. The rest of the team takes the flight back to Germany around midday.
Germany: Grubauer (Endras) – Holzer, Ehrhoff; Rieder, Draisaitl, Macek – Müller, Seidenberg – Schütz, Hager, Kühnhackl – Hördler, Akdag; Kink, Goc, Seidenberg – Boyle; Wolf, Kahun, Reimer; Fauser
Goals: 1:0 Leon Draisaitl (16:18/PP1), 2:0 Felix Schütz (24:51), 2:1 Miks Indrasis (35:55/PP1); 2:2 Martins Karsums (46:19/PP1); 3:2 Tom Kühnhackl (54:51/PP1)
Penalty minutes: Germany 10 – Latvia 6
Audience: 10.300 (sold out)