Inline team waits for first tournament point: The inline national team lost to the Czech Republic 2017:4 (6:1, 2:1, 0:1, 1) in the third and final preliminary round game of the 1 IIHF Inline World Championship in Bratislava (Slovakia). :3) and is still without a point. But you can't blame the German team, as they went into the game as underdogs in all three preliminary round games. In the upcoming cross-over quarter-finals against the USA it will also be more than difficult for the team led by coach Georg Holzmann, but "Our development in the tournament so far has been positive and we want to go into the game against the USA with good prospects," said Alexander Dück before the upcoming match.
The DEB-Selection started the game against the Czech Republic with commitment and strong will, but had to accept the first goal in the first shorthanded game. Kubica put his colors in the lead. After the 0-1 lead, the Germans held strong and several good opportunities followed. First Tim Brazda didn't get the target right in front of the goal, then in the next situation his brother Tobias put a shot just over the goal. In the seventh minute, the German team was finally redeemed by Krzizok and got the deserved 1-1 equalizer. But the Czechs promptly countered and went into the first break with a one-goal lead.
In the second quarter, Gomow had a huge chance right from the start, but the Czech Republic's hoof continued to keep his box clean. A few minutes later it was captain Tölzer who equalized again.
As in the previous games, Martinovic and Filimonow were substituted after half-time. The German team took the lead for the first time thanks to Jeske in the 29th minute. But the Czechs regained their offensive strength and forced a 33:3 draw in the 3rd minute.
Both the Germans and the Czechs started the final period with one man less. The Czechs' opening goal by Kafka followed promptly and the 3:5 from the German perspective was not long in coming. The Germans tried hard to get the ball into the goal on offense and in a short swarm in front of Huf's goal, Dück managed to reduce the score to 44:4 in the 5th minute. Two minutes before the end, Filimonov left the field in favor of an additional field player, but a subsequent empty net goal meant the score was 4:6.
Dück on the game: “We played well today and you could see that we improved more and more over the course of the three games, which was our goal from the start. We worked better as a team and pushed forward with more pressure, which the goals confirmed. It was unfortunate that the referees made some bad decisions, coupled with a bit of bad luck when finishing at the front. But our development is positive and we want to go into the game against the USA with good prospects.”
You can find detailed statistics here