The German national ice hockey team achieved its second victory at the World Championships in Finland. They celebrated against France DEB-Selected an important 3-2 win in a close, hard-fought game. The goalscorers for Germany were Daniel Fischbuch, Alexander Ehl and Leo Pföderl.
After the two opening games at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland against Canada (3:5) and Slovakia (2:1), the German national ice hockey team played its next preliminary round match in Group A on Monday evening. DEB-Selection on France, which also had one win and one defeat in the first two games (2:4 against Slovakia, 2:1 against Kazakhstan).
National coach Toni Söderholm only made one change to the squad: Mathias Niederberger got his first World Cup start today after Philipp Grubauer was between the posts in the first two World Cup games. All other formations remained unchanged.
Germany got off to a perfect start to the game. The beautifully released Daniel Fischbuch (2nd) took advantage of the first penalty time against the French to hit the near corner while alone in front of the goal. France only came into the game when they were awarded their first power play. NHL striker Alexandre Texier (15th) left Niederberger no chance to defend with his one-timer from the faceoff circle. The DEB-Selection followed up again: Dominik Bittner's shot from the blue line was deflected by Alexander Ehl (18th), so that a narrow lead for Germany was shown on the game clock again before the break. Meanwhile, Tim Stützle was already slightly injured in the dressing room - and didn't return for the rest of the game.
In the second half, the German team started off strong and created chances every minute. The third goal was literally in the air at times - but it didn't want to fall. The game only turned around again when Germany suffered its second penalty of the game. Even though no goal was conceded this time, the French got back into the game better. Finally, it was Hugo Gallet (32nd) who deflected a shot a little later in such a way that this time too there was no chance of defending. Even after that, it remained a much more open game than in the first few minutes of the third.
In the final period it remained an even and close game. Germany continued to have more of the game, while the French remained dangerous, especially on the counterattack. The decisive breakthrough came from Leo Pföderl (46th), who completed strong preparatory work from Marc Michaelis and Marcel Noebels. Especially in the final minutes, France threw everything forward again and brought in a sixth field player. In this phase, Mathias Niederberger was able to distinguish himself by not allowing any rebounds for the lurking opponents. This is how the German team achieved success over time.
For the DEB-Selection will now be followed by two game-free days, which will be used for training sessions and regeneration. Afterwards there is a double match day on the agenda: on Thursday afternoon we play against Denmark, followed by the game against Italy on Friday. Both games start at 16:20 p.m. Finnish local time (15:20 p.m. CEST) and will be broadcast as usual on MAGENTASPORT and SPORT1.
Detailed statistics from the World Cup: ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (iihf.com)
Voices about the game
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “It was an important win for us today against an opponent who fought hard until the last second. We put our stamp on the game in the final third and deserved to win. In the end, the three points count. Now we have two days off from the game, which we will use to get back in top shape.”
National coach Toni Söderholm about the winning goal: “It was a very nice goal at a very important time from two very good ice hockey players who know each other very well on the ice. ”
Striker Marc Michaelis (two assists): “We took advantage of the first power play and continued to play very well after that. Of course, opponents can always take advantage of a superiority situation with their top players in a World Cup tournament. From our point of view, the second third was anything but ideal and we came out happy with the 2:2. We then found a way out of the back, worked very well defensively and deservedly brought the game home overall.”
goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger: “Such games are difficult during the World Cup, especially when you are coming off a high like we did with the win against Slovakia. We had to be fully present. The French defended very well, but were also strong on counterattacks and in the power play. “That’s how the game dragged on and was very close until the end against a strong opponent for whom we have respect.”