The German national ice hockey team achieved its third victory in the fourth game of the World Cup: there was an important 1-0 win against Denmark. The German team now has nine points and is in the top half of Group A. The scorer was Marc Michaelis (33rd), Philipp Grubauer celebrated a shutout. Maximilian Kastner was named the best player.
Against the Danes, who have the same number of points so far (also two wins, one loss), goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer was given his third appearance at this World Cup. Leon Gawanke and Lukas Reichel, who arrived from North America, were not yet in the squad. Since national coach Toni Söderholm also had to do without the injured Tim Stützle, striker Alexander Karachun celebrated his World Cup debut.
Both teams had to master a test of patience: Due to a fire service operation, the arena was evacuated and the start of the game was postponed to 18 p.m. For organizational reasons, the warm-up took place in the training hall to ensure a quick process for both teams.
In the first section, it was clear to both teams that the main thing was to get back into the game after the delay and work concentratedly on defense. The Danes dropped accordingly. Things became dangerous when speed was involved. After such a quick interaction, Moritz Seider had the lead for the national team in the 18th minute of the game, but the puck bounced off the crossbar. On the other hand, Philipp Grubauer was able to prove himself in the few dangerous attacks by the Danes and didn't let anything happen.
In the second third, the game was played a little more openly by both sides, even if there were rarely any great chances. A small private duel developed between the Danish NHL striker Nikolaj Ehlers and Grubauer in the German goal - with the better end for the NHL goalie. On the other hand, the German team exploited the space with a power play. After a nice pass combination, Marcel Noebels played to Marc Michaelis (33'), who was standing in front of the goal, and he had no trouble deflecting the ball to take the lead. They also showed themselves to be outnumbered DEB-Selection was highly concentrated and gave the Danes no chance to develop.
Building on the strong defensive performance, we entered the final section. A good move by Alex Ehl and Samuel Soramies almost resulted in the second German goal, then Sebastian Dahm parried a shot from Leo Pföderl in the Danish goal. In the final minutes the Danes started to run more, but the German backline didn't let this bother them and deservedly achieved the success over time.
The next World Cup appearance for them will follow tomorrow afternoon DEB-Selection in Group A, the opponent is then Italy. The game starts (hopefully this time) at 16:20 p.m. (15:20 p.m. German time). This game will also be broadcast on MAGENTASPORT AND SPORT1.
National coach Toni Söderholm: “The game didn't go as I thought in terms of intensity. Both teams tried to control the game and that's why there were many situations in which the game was played a little more passively. But I can't complain. We played very well when we were outnumbered, scored an important goal when we were outnumbered and didn't let in any goals. Philipp was very good, as were many other players. The three points are important.”
Striker Maximilian Kaster, awarded as best player: “It was a hard-fought victory, both teams played defensively. Nevertheless, we had enough good chances to score a few more goals. The Danes also had some good opportunities. We are happy that we won the game and took another step. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
debutant Alexander Karachun about his first World Cup appearance: “We won and I'm happy that I was able to make my contribution to the game and that the evening ended successfully for us, especially after the waiting time. I think both teams came out a little cautious and then we defended well against strong Danes.”