The German U20 national team suffered a heavy defeat in its second World Cup group match against defending champions and hosts Canada. 24 hours after its brilliant performance against Finland (3:5), the heavily depleted team of U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter lost 2:16 (1:4, 0:7, 1:5) at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The goals for the German Ice Hockey Federation selection were scored by John Peterka (14th) during a five-minute power play and Florian Elias (60th) a few seconds before the final whistle, also in the power play.
The DEBThe team had to make do with 14 field players, as in the opening game, but is hoping for an increase in the squad for the next encounter. As he did against Finland, Arno Tiefensee started in goal DEB-Teams, from the second third onwards Jonas Gähr stood between the posts. The German U20 now has a day off from play before the important duel against Slovakia on the night of December 29th. From 3.30 a.m. (CET/live on MagentaSport) is DEB-Selection will then be in action at this World Cup tournament for the third time.
The goals for the Canadian team, almost exclusively made up of high NHL draft picks, were scored by Kaiden Guhle (2nd), Dawson Mercer (8th, 23rd), Philip Tomasino (15th, 34th), Peyton Krebs (20th, 40th), Ryan Suzuki (26th), Alex Newhook (27th, 31st), Dylan Cozens (39th, 41st, 45th), Jakob Pelletier (46th), Thomas Harley (47th) and Connor McMichael (49th). In the early stages of the match, Tim Stützle (3rd) and Manuel Alberg (7th) had two good opportunities for the DEB-Selection that felt the fatigue more and more clearly as the game progressed.
Interim sports director Christian Künast: “It was clearly noticeable that it was the second game within 24 hours and that most of the team had been without training for ten days. This is how the defeat can also be explained at altitude. The mistakes added up because our players became more and more tired. Nevertheless, the team continued to fight for each other and stick together. Now it’s time to refocus and refill our tanks so we can be ready against Slovakia.”
U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: "It was a really bad game from us. We were way too far away, and at that level it's going to be very difficult. Normally a defeat isn't a problem, but this was frustrating. But we can't bury our heads in the sand, because it's important that the boys have an answer ready."
