2-1 win against improved French / Yasin Ehliz with two goals / Leon Draisaitl scores a brace of assists / Markus Eisenschmid with an assist in his international debut
The German national ice hockey team won the fourth home game as part of the Euro Hockey Challenge. In front of 4.412 spectators in the venerable corrugated iron palace of Berlin National coach Marco Sturm's team won against France 2:1 (0:0; 0:1; 1:0; 1:0) after extra time.
Of course, all eyes were on the captain: Draisaitl was already taken in by the sailor BerlinThe audience gave him thunderous applause. The 22-year-old NHL star joined Marc Michaelis and Frederik Tiffels, who are the same age. The trio had already played together in the junior national team. Markus Eisenschmid also made his debut in the men's team. Two silver medalists, Sinan Akdag and Yasin Ehliz, also joined the team.
Draisaitl's second shot almost opened the scoring, but the crossbar stood in the striker's way. The same fate befell Daniel Pietta a little later, who even managed to hit the crossbar and the post at the same time with his backhand attempt. Nevertheless, the guests were at least equal in the first third and also had the best chance of scoring. Niklas Treutle thwarted a deficit several times with strong ones Parait.
In the second section, the guests continued to present themselves as tough opponents. However, both teams initially neutralized each other. Anthony Rech should still score the first goal of the evening. When he went solo, he gave Mathias Niederberger, who came on for Treutle, no chance.
The German team picked up the pace in the final round. Eisenschmid earned an assist in his first international match with an exemplary pass to Yasin Ehliz, who equalized with a fine movement to make it 1-1. Shortly afterwards, Hardy somehow fished Draisaitl's direct shot out of the air. The decision of the game should not be made in regular time, but rather in extra time. There Leon Draisaitl intercepted a pass from the French and fed Yasin Ehliz, who placed the puck in the corner of the goal and decided the game with his second goal.
However, there isn't much time to take a breather. The national team will travel to Denmark on Tuesday, where the last two preparatory games will be played next week. In Vojens, Sturm's team will first face the hosts (April 25.4th). The dress rehearsal will take place two days later in Odense against South Korea. Both opponents are German group opponents at the IIHF 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship (May 4th - 20th, 2018).
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers: “It was great fun here Berlin in the corrugated iron palace in front of the Fans to play. The atmosphere was great as always. I'm happy that we were able to win the game 2-1! As the game progressed I felt better and better. It wasn't easy to get back into it after two weeks without ice hockey, but I think it will get better over the next few days."
Gates: 0:1 Anthony Rech (35:45), 1:1 Yasin Ehliz (41:54), 2:1 Yasin Ehliz (61:57)
Viewers: 4.412 (sold out)
Germany: Treutle (from 30:25 Niederberger) – Mebus, Akdag; Tiffels, Draisaitl, Michaelis – Wagner, Nowak; Krämmer, Pietta, Müller – Zerressen, Ebner; Kammerer, Loibl, Uvira – Brückner, Krupp; Ehliz, Höfflin, Eisenschmid.
You can find detailed statistics about the game HERE.