The German national ice hockey team lost the first World Cup match of Group A against defending champion Canada with 3:5 (0:2, 1:3, 2:0). The goals for the DEBThe two strikers Marc Michaelis (28th) and Matthias Plachta (42nd/PP2) as well as defender Moritz Seider (53rd/PP2) were selected. Striker Tim Stützle was named best player.
At the start, Philipp Grubauer started in goal DEB-Selection. With Alexander Ehl, Kai Wissmann, Daniel Schmölz, Samuel Soramies and Tim Stützle, five World Cup debutants were in national coach Toni Söderholm's squad for the match in the Helsinki Ice Hall.
The game started straight away without any testing, with the Canadians testing the German NHL goalie after just a few seconds. Physically, things also got straight to the point, with the Canadians repeatedly managing to disrupt the German build-up of play and causing mistakes: Cole Sillinger (9th) took advantage of a puck recovery in the German zone to take the lead. The maple leaves' second goal by Pierre-Luc Dubois (18th) also came after an inaccuracy in the build-up to the game in the neutral zone. Grubauer was powerless on both shots. On the other side, Wissmann, Seider and Michaelis had the best scoring opportunities for them DEB-Selection.
After the first break, Germany came onto the ice with a lot more power to score and thus put the Canadian backline under pressure. The German team's best phase resulted in the deserved goal from Marc Michaelis (28th), who capitalized on the preparatory work by Leo Pföderl and Moritz Seider. Two consecutive penalty times ended the attack DEB-Selection abrupt: Canada acted extremely efficiently in the power play and pulled ahead again with goals from Pierre-Luc Dubois (32nd) and Kent Johnson (34th). When Noah Gregor (38th) also hit the target a little later, the team had to recover from this blow.
And the national team managed to do that in the final period, showing their morale and striking twice when they were twice as numerous: First Matthias Plachta (42') hammered the puck into the net, then Moritz Seider (53') brought it in around seven minutes before the end DEB-Selection back to two hits. In the final phase the team tried everything again, and Grubauer also left the ice three and a half minutes before the end in favor of a sixth skater. However, no further hits were scored.
The DEB-Selection will not be able to dwell on the result of the first World Cup game for long. The game continues against the Olympic bronze medalist from Slovakia on Saturday evening. The game starts at 20:20 p.m. local time in the Helsinki Ice Hall (19:20 p.m. German time). MAGENTASPORT and SPORT1 will once again broadcast the game live and in full length.
National coach Toni Söderholm: “A few moments in the first third cost us the goals we conceded. We started the second section very well. The important lesson we take away is that we design our changes so well that we can maintain the momentum. A long substitution cost us a penalty, which resulted in a goal being conceded. Especially since we played against a very good and, above all, efficient opponent. We definitely don’t have to hide.”
Moritz Seider about today's game: “It's a long group phase, but ultimately there were a lot of positive things today. We will analyze the rest critically and then be ready for the start of the next World Cup game tomorrow.”
Tim Stützle about his first game at a World Cup: “It was a lot of fun. We worked hard in the first third and deviated from our system a bit in the second period and took too many penalties - including myself. It speaks for our team spirit that we came back afterwards and were able to reduce the deficit. We have to keep working hard, then a lot is possible.”
Detailed statistics of the World Cup: ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (iihf.com)