The German national ice hockey team beat the Olympic bronze medalist from Slovakia 2-1. In a high-class and exciting encounter between the two teams in the Helsinki Ice Hall, Matthias Plachta (21st) and Leo Pföderl (27th) scored the decisive goals for them in the second period DEB-Selection.
Second World Cup matchday, second match within 24 hours: After the opening duel with Canada (3:5), the DEB-Selection against Slovakia was called for again today. National coach Toni Söderholm made no changes to the line-up, so Philipp Grubauer was once again guarding the German goal. Both in defense and offense, the formations remained unchanged compared to the first group game.
Against their long-term opponents – both teams last scored at Deutschland Cup, the World Cup preparation, the Olympics and the World Cup - there was no scanning. Both teams played with a lot of speed from the start and put each other under pressure with aggressive forechecking. Nevertheless, both managed to set a tone on the offensive at times. For the DEB-Selection Alexander Ehl (6th) had the best chance to score when, with a bit of luck, he got the disc on his stick directly in front of the Slovakian goal. But Patrik Rybar in the box thwarted the chance and was just as confident as Philipp Grubauer on the other side. The German team was lucky when a deflected shot from Minarik missed the German goal by a whisker. However, no goals were scored until the first break.
That changed in the second period. Matthias Plachta (21.) powered his way through the defense and passed the puck into the goal area, where captain Moritz Müller was with an opponent. The puck bounced off this opponent and into the goal. Even after that, the DEB-Selection on the pusher. In the 28th minute of the game, Leo Pföderl increased the score after a nice interaction with Marcel Noebels. But the Slovaks responded less than three minutes later with Kristian Pospisil's goal (32'). The German team didn't let this unsettle them, even if the Slovaks increased the pressure again towards the end of the third.
Coach Craig Ramsay's Slovakian team also tried everything they could to equalize in the final period. But the DEB-Selection had adjusted well to the running and attacks and was able to win many important duels in their own zone. Blocking shots also became a thing again ParaDiscipline in defensive play. And when things got really tough, Philipp Grubauer was there. Until the final seconds, it remained an exciting crime thriller and an ice hockey game worth seeing, which ended with an important 2-1 win from a German perspective. Philipp Grubauer was named the German team's best player, saving 28 of 29 shots.
Next Monday is for them DEB-Selection is the third World Cup group game on the program, the opponent is France. The game starts again at 20:20 p.m. (19:20 p.m. German time). This game can also be seen live on MAGENTASPORT and SPORT1.
National coach Toni Söderholm: “It was one of the fastest games I have experienced in my last years with the national team. We were very good in terms of fighting, we almost defended too much in the end. The team performance as a whole is worth highlighting. Philipp was very strong for us in goal, as were all four rows who did a very good job for us.”
Goalscorer Matthias Plachta about today's game: “It was a very intense, hard-fought ice hockey game with a happy ending for us. We are happy with the three points after this fight against Slovakia.”
Goalscorer Leo Pföderl about the first win: “The first half hour was really good for us. The 2-0 win should have given us some support, but it didn't. We weren't as calm in the second half of the game, but then we made the extra meters with a lot of hard work in the final period to bring the game home. The win gives us a nice boost.”