The German national ice hockey team won the silver medal at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. In a dramatic game, Marco Sturm's team lost to the Olympic athletes from Russia 3:4 (0:1, 1:0, 2:2) and took second place in the tournament.
As expected, the favorite tried to put the German team under pressure from the start. The Olympic athletes of Russia were visually the superior and more active team, but still had a hard time against the very compact defensive DEB- Selection. In addition, goalkeeper Danny aus den Birken showed a strong game and was able to save eleven Russian shots. He was powerless only once, when Vyacheslav Voinov hit the corner. A bitter goal from a German perspective, as it came 0,5 seconds before the third break.
However, the German team was not impressed by this and continued to play their game. Marco Sturm's team remained courageous and acted on equal terms. That was rewarded after half an hour when Felix Schütz equalized from a tight angle.
The game remained balanced well into the final third. Then events came to a head. First, Gusev gave the Russian team the lead again (53'), but just ten seconds later Dominik Kahun hit back and used a back pass from Frank Mauer to immediately equalize. After 57 minutes the absolute sensation was tangible. Jonas Müller waited until the optimal moment and shot the puck into the goal to give Germany the lead for the first time.
This lead lasted until 55 seconds before the end, then Gusev again dashed the German dream of gold.
The decision was then made in extra time. After 70 minutes, a penalty was awarded against Germany. In the ensuing majority, Kirill Kaprizov decided the game with an unstoppable shot under the crossbar.
By winning the silver medal, the German national ice hockey team achieved the greatest success in its history and can rightly be proud of this achievement.
Danny from the Birches received an additional special award. The 33-year-old was voted the tournament's best goalkeeper.