The German national team played its World Cup quarter-final game in the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Thursday evening. National coach Toni Söderholm's team ultimately lost to the Czech Republic 1:5 (0:0, 1:1, 0:4). The German team is therefore eliminated after strong performances at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, but has secured direct Olympic qualification and will move past Switzerland in the world rankings thanks to its performance at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and take seventh place.
On Thursday evening, the German national team met the Czech Republic, second in Group B. Defender Moritz Seider returned to the squad, while Benedikt Schopper and Lean Bergmann remained without further World Cup appearances. Philipp Grubauer once again guarded the German team's goal.
As expected, the Czech Republic started with pressure, but the German national team, like against Finland, showed a concentrated game. Nevertheless, Philipp Grubauer had to defuse dangerous attacks several times. It also became dangerous in three outnumbered situations, but Grubauer and his front men survived the situations. On the other side they had DEB-Choose some good opportunities for yourself to score the opening goal.
The spectators also experienced a balanced game in the second third. Significantly, it was finally a beautiful individual action by Jan Kovar (34th), who outsmarted the German defense with a clever movement and a well-placed shot. But the DEB-Selection managed to get the answer before the break. After strong preparatory work by Frederik Tiffels, Frank Mauer (38th) hit the ball from the slot into the corner and got the deserved equalizer.
In the final period, the Czechs took the lead again: Jakub Voracek scored with a follow-up shot in the 45th minute to make it 2-1. Seven minutes later, Dominik Kubalik increased the lead to two goals with a powerful shot into the top corner. As a result, Germany took more risks and was unlucky in the 54th minute when the puck bounced off the boards directly to Ondrej Palat, who only had to push in to make it 4-1. Jan Kovar scored the final point with an empty net goal in the final minute.
By reaching the quarter-finals, Germany will overtake Switzerland in the world rankings and take seventh place. National coach Toni Söderholm's team had already secured Olympic qualification with their performances in the preliminary round.
Toni Söderholm, national coach: "Today, we weren't far off. For 44 minutes, we played exactly the system we had planned before the game. We created a few good scoring opportunities, but were unlucky on defense twice when the puck bounced off the boards a little unpredictably. A good opponent will naturally take advantage of something like that. I'm proud of the team's performance - this was a tournament result that we can build on!"
You can find all the statistics for the game HERE!