With passion, lionheartedness and the decisive penalty in the medal race: The German national ice hockey team reached the semi-finals of the 2021 IIHF World Championship after a fascinating exchange of blows with Switzerland. National coach Toni Söderholm's team defeated their long-term rivals from the neighboring country in a dramatic duel with 3:2 n.P. (0:1, 1:1, 1:0, 0:0, 1:0) and managed to win for the first time since Home World Cup 2010 again made it into the round of the last four. At the Olympic Sports Center Riga, Leon Gawanke, Tom Kühnhackl and Marcel Noebels scored the goals for the German team, which had also beaten the Swiss in the last successful quarter-finals eleven years ago - 1-0 in Mannheim.
Im DEBgoal, Mathias Niederberger made his sixth start at the tournament. Toni Söderholm also retained the combination of 13 strikers and seven defenders with which the DEBteam played in a 2-1 win against Latvia. There were no changes in personnel, the previous German top scorer Marcel Noebels was also available for action and played as usual alongside Lukas Reichel and Leonhard Pföderl.
As expected, both teams entered the quarterfinals at a high pace and with a lot of effort. She got off to a better start DEB-Selection that brought Swiss goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni first with dangerous shots from the blue line and a lot of effort to get to the goal Parathe forced. The Swiss proved especially dangerous when counterattacking quickly. When the Swiss were able to really establish themselves in the attacking third for the first time, the released Ramon Untersander (16th) scored into the near corner to take the lead after an overall balanced first half of the game.
At the beginning of the second third, the Swiss initially had more of the game and had a great chance to score the next goal with a double majority. But as so often in the tournament, she delivered DEB-Select an impeccable penalty killing. As a result, national coach Toni Söderholm's team got back into the game better, but had to accept the second goal from Fabrice Herzog (34th) after a counterattack. On the other side, it was Tom Kühnhackl (38th) who scored the important goal before the second break.
In the final section it came DEB-Selected decisively from the cabin and was able to increase performance again. So the pressure on Genoni increased, Noebels (49th) and Eisenschmid (56th) had the equalizer on their hands. The reward for the big fight came 44 seconds before the end: With one more field player on the ice, Leon Gawanke (60th) scored the celebrated equalizer.
The subsequent extra time finally became a game of nerves: Pföderl (61st) and Kahun (63rd) had the best chances in the exciting ten-minute extra time, while Mathias Niederberger had two outstanding ones Parawho shone and held on to the chance of reaching the semi-finals.
In the subsequent penalty shootout, Timo Meier was the third penalty shooter for Switzerland, but Dominik Kahun immediately equalized. With the fifth and decisive penalty, Marcel Noebels finally scored with a spectacular move to win.
The selection of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund will now play for the final next Saturday. After the trip to the OSC, the game will be played again in the Arena Riga. The opponent will only be determined after tonight's games.
Voices about the game:
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “An incredible energetic performance from the team. We can be proud. We were the better team and then won the penalty shootout lottery. Our journey is not over yet, we are looking forward to the semi-finals and seeing what happens in the end.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “The team was very calm and focused, they fought their way back into the game from difficult situations. In the third third we found a new gear in terms of aggressiveness, will and power. That allowed us to equalize, but you always need a bit of luck. The way the boys worked, they fully deserved it. The boys are of course happy and have earned this deep feeling of happiness. I begrudge them everything they get now. The journey continues, there are still chapters to be added to this story, that is the general will.”
Captain Moritz Müller: “It was of course very emotional after the game. What a team, what a passion, we forced victory. A key moment was the three-on-five outnumbered situation in the second third. And what an incredible game play afterwards. The next goal, then Leon, who equalized for us shortly before the end, and then this penalty shootout. Something like this only happens to teams that show such heart and will.”
Striker Tom Kühnhackl: “It's an incredible feeling. With two goals behind, we tried to get the second and third chances in front of the goal. The fact that we scored the equalizer at the end gave us an incredible boost. We showed great morale and were rewarded for it in the penalty shootout. We have a lot of confidence in our system and have remained patient. That paid off today.”
Striker Marcel Noebels: “I just turned my head off during the penalty and of course I'm happy to have scored the decisive goal. It wasn't easy for us again today, we came back and it was just a great performance from the entire team. I'm proud to be part of this team and to take this huge step in the tournament. This is a great success for German ice hockey."