The German national ice hockey team has qualified for the final of the Deutschland Cups boosted a dose of self-confidence. Coached by Steffen Ziesche and Thomas Popiesch in the absence of national coach Toni Söderholm DEB-Selection prevailed against Latvia 2-0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0) in a hard-fought game in Krefeld's Yayla Arena. On Sunday from 14.30 p.m. (MagentaSport) both teams will duel again, then it's all about winning the home tournament of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund.
The first third was quite open overall with opportunities on both sides. Just like his Latvian counterpart Rudolfs Lazdins with the guests, Mannheim's Felix Brückmann was in goal DEB-Select some worth seeing Parathe. The second third was more obvious DEB-Selection, but the puck still didn't want to get into the goal despite a few good opportunities. The final section didn't bring a decision for a long time either BerlinMarcel Noebels (55th) resolutely followed up and made it 1-0 for them DEB-Selection marked. Matthias Plachta (59th) put the final point with a 2-0 into the empty Latvian goal. Brückmann earned a shutout with a convincing performance.
Before the game had that DEB-Team received another squad addition. The striker Lukas Reichel (Eisbären Berlin) and Tim Wohlgemuth (ERC Ingolstadt) moved from the top team in Beijing to the national team after the required health tests, as did back-up goalie Daniel Fießinger (EHC Red Bull München). Reichel made his debut with the senior national team and played his third game in three days. At the top team Beijing, which left after the two games on Thursday and Friday, all initial corona tests had previously been negative.
Coach Thomas Popiesch: “The conclusion is basically positive, it was a tough game the whole time and we deserved to win. The intensity was much higher, the Latvians were strong on the target and ran very well. The fine-tuning, the rhythm wasn't 100 percent there yet, but that's normal. For the final we are aiming for an even higher quality in the passing game and want to improve a few other little things.”
Matthias Plachta: “We were prepared for it to be a close game, Felix Brückmann has some strong ones Parashown. We will analyze and look for a few gaps in the Latvians for tomorrow. Every single person wants it Fans back, but until then we have to be patient and make the best of it first. The Deutschland Cup is a huge step in the right direction for all of us.”
Korbinian Holzer: “We played patiently, put a lot of pressure on in the second third and in the end we had the bit of luck we needed. We have to build on the performance from the second third. You can understand the meaning of the Deutschland Cup not rated highly enough.”