One goal and two assists: Leon Draisaitl contributed to all the goals / Fabio Wagner with his first international goal / Friday dress rehearsal against South Korea
The German national ice hockey team lost the first of two World Cup preparation games in the host country: In the first of two comparisons, national coach Marco Sturm's team lost 3-4 after overtime in the SE Arena in Vojens Denmark on Wednesday. Ingolstadt's Fabio Wagner scored his first international goal. NHL star Leon Draisaitl was involved in all German goals with one goal and two assists. Next Friday there will be a dress rehearsal in Odense against South Korea.
Sturm had given “new signing” Dennis Seidenberg from the New York Islanders a break after a long journey and only two training sessions. As did keeper Mathias Niederberger, who made room for Niklas Treutle and representative Timo Pielmeier in the squad.
As expected, the home team showed what they had planned right from the start: they tried to put the German team under pressure with a lot of speed. After about ten minutes the... DEB-Selection stronger.
After Stefan Loibl's chance to take the lead, Fabio Wagner did better with his first international goal a little later. The defender scored with a concealed shot. Leon Draisaitl provided the assist. Daniel Pietta then had the chance to make it 2-0, but the narrow lead remained at halftime.
In the second section they got Fans a lot to see: First, the Danes took the lead thanks to two goals from Nicolai Meyer. That really displeased Draisaitl. In the 2-2 draw, the striker impressively showed why he is one of the best in his field. In a very small space, he first left his opponent standing and then humorlessly maneuvered the play equipment under the crossbar. Even the Danish audience gave a round of applause.
Yasin Ehliz had previously been unable to successfully complete a solo attempt. Matthias Plachta answered Morton Poulsen's 3:2 with a dry low shot to make it 3:3. Draisaitl's second assist and third scorer point.
In the final round, the Sturm team had to survive several situations where they were outnumbered. Niklas Treutle and his teammates proved their class several times. The game went into overtime with the score at 3:3. There, the Danes found the happier ending thanks to Storm's decisive goal.
Next Friday there will be a World Cup dress rehearsal against South Korea in Odense at 13.30 p.m. The national team would like to end their preparation with a success. On Tuesday, May 1st, the countdown begins for the opening game against hosts Denmark (May 4th, 20 p.m.).
National coach Marco Sturm: "Denmark was the tough opponent we expected. Because we took too many penalties, we didn't really get into the game. Especially in the last third, where we had big plans. Despite that, the team fought well. We did a lot of little things right and blocked shots. We will continue down this path."
Germany: Treutle (Pielmeier) – Mebus, Mo. Müller; Ehliz, Draisaitl, Eisenschmid – Krupp, Akdag; Tiffels, Höfflin, Michaelis – Ebner, Zerressen; Plachta, Pietta, Ma. Müller – Wagner, Nowak; Krämmer, Loibl, Uvira; Kammerer
Gates: 0:1 Fabio Wagner (16:28), 1:1 Nicolai Meyer (24:04), 2:1 Nicolai Meyer (29:59), 2:2 Leon Draisaitl (30:33), 3:2 Morton Poulsen ( 34:21), 3:3 Matthias Plachta (37:27), 3:4 Frederik Storm (62:07)