Two World Cup games within 24 hours – two victories for the German national team, which scored full points at the start of the tournament. After the game-free Monday, the national team continues with another double game day at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia: France (May 14, 2019, 20.15:15 p.m.) and Slovakia (May 2019, 20.15 / 1:XNUMX p.m.) are the next opponents . Both games will be broadcast live on SPORTXNUMX.
National coach Toni Söderholm: “The two wins gave us more confidence. The team performance was already at a much higher level against Denmark. Now it's time to continue working in detail and patiently. We want to highlight our strengths against upcoming opponents. Discipline will be very important. We have to stay away from the penalty box, then we can be successful in the coming games.”
First against “Les Bleus”
Despite a temporary two-goal lead, the French started the tournament with a 4-5 opening defeat after a penalty shootout against Denmark. This was followed by a 1:7 defeat against the USA. Therefore, “Les Bleus” are currently in seventh place in Group A.
The French squad includes an NHL star in Alexandre Texier. The 19-year-old made his debut in the North American professional league last month in the Columbus Blue Jackets jersey against the New York Rangers. Another future teammate of Gerrit Fauser will wear the jersey of the French national team: Anthony Rech, who is moving from Schwenningen to Wolfsburg in the summer, has played in both World Cup matches so far and scored one goal and one assist.
Head coach Philippe Bozon's team last met the German team last year. They won in Wolfsburg DEB-Selection with 7:1 – in Berlin The final score was 2-1 after extra time for Germany. The overall balance of the duel: 21 wins for the German team, 5 draws and 13 defeats.
Slovakia – the USA “scare”
The German team's fourth opponent in the preliminary round is Slovakia. The host celebrated a 4-1 victory against the USA at the start of the tournament, which was enthusiastically cheered by the home fans. Against Finland, the Slovakians kept the game open for a long time, only being defeated 4-2 by two goals from shooting star Kaapo Kakko in the final third. The team is currently in fifth place in Group A.
There will be a reunion for Leon Draisaitl in the duel with Slovakia: Oilers teammate Andrej Sekera will take over the captaincy role for Slovakia at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. With Richard Panik (Arizona Coyotes), Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay Lightning), Christian Jaros (Ottawa Senators) and Tomas Tatar (Montreal Canadiens), four more NHL players are in head coach Craig Ramsay's squad.
The two nations recently faced each other as part of the Euro Hockey Challenge. The celebrated in Kaufbeuren and Garmisch-Partenkirchen DEB-Choose a 2:1 or 3:1 win. The overall balance of the duel: 26 wins for the German team, 3 draws and 33 defeats.