Final group game for the German national team at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia: The game against league leaders Finland was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. In the Steel Arena, national coach Toni Söderholm's team defeated the Finnish team 4:2 (1:1, 1:1, 2:0) after a strong team performance. The DEB-Selection placed third in Group A after the win and now has to wait for the final group games for the final preliminary round placement and quarter-final opponent.
National coach Toni Söderholm was able to rely on goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, who was recently injured, while Moritz Seider continued to have to take a break. Leo Pföderl played for Lean Bergmann in the attack.
As announced, the German national team relied on more defensive tactics compared to the game against the USA. There were initially few chances to score on both sides. Only a power play from the Finns brought the first goal of the game, Harri Pesonen (16th) deflected the target decisively. Less than two minutes later she replied DEB-Selection by Marc Michaelis (18th), who completed a beautiful pass combination via Marcus Eisenschmid and Matthias Plachta. Shortly afterwards, the German team even had the best chance of taking the lead with their own advantage. But it remained 1-1 at the first break.
The Finns also took the lead in the second section. Juhani Tyrvainen (25th) poked the puck into the goal in a confusing situation in front of Grubauer's goal. Even after an intervention by the German bank, the goal was confirmed by the video referee. In the second half of the section the DEB-Selection puts the Finnish defense under increasing pressure. Consequently, the equalizer came again through Dominik Kahun (34th), who was played free-standing in front of the goal by Leon Draisaitl and hit the far corner with a backhand.
In the final section, the Finns initially applied more pressure and had some good offensive moments, especially through shooting star Kaapo Kakko. Philipp Grubauer parried several times. However, the German team was repeatedly dangerous on the other side. It was Leon Draisaitl who gave Germany the first lead of the game in the 45th minute. Then she braced herself DEB-Selection against the Finnish team and struck again in the person of Leon Draisaitl 60 seconds before the end of the game - the Finns had previously taken their goalie off the ice for an additional field player. As a result, nothing more happened - the German team celebrated a 4-2 win against league leaders Finland after a strong performance!
The German team continues to Bratislava. Next Thursday it will take place DEB-Selection in the quarterfinals. The final table position and the quarter-final opponent are still open and will only be determined after the last group games in the evening.
Toni Söderholm, national coach: "Both teams waited a little in the first third to see what their opponents would do. We on the coaching bench had the feeling that we needed to step up our game. That's why we asked for more skating and a faster game during the break so that we could build up more pressure. The boys implemented it very well, showed a compact team performance over the 60 minutes and therefore deserved to win!"
Franz Reindl, DEB-President: “Six top performances, five wins and 15 points are an outstanding achievement by our team. The team can move into the quarter-finals in Bratislava with great pride and healthy self-confidence!”
Stefan Schaidnagel, DEB-Sports Director: "Reaching the quarter-finals is a well-deserved reward for our work over the past few weeks. With five wins from seven games, we more than deserve to be in the last eight. We have already shown ourselves what is possible in the final round games. We are looking forward to the quarter-finals and are preparing very well for our opponents. Overall, we will continue on our path; it is not a given that we advance in this way every year!"
You can find all the statistics for the game HERE!