The German national ice hockey team missed out on a place in the World Cup semi-finals. They lost in the quarterfinals at the Helsinki Ice Hall DEB-Selection, despite a great fighting performance, the Czech Republic lost 1:4. It was only in the final period that Moritz Seider (54th) scored the only goal for the German team, which appeared brave in the second half of the game but was unable to make up for the early deficit against the tactically clever Czechs. Matthias Plachta was named the best player in the World Cup quarter-finals against the Czech Republic. In addition, Philipp Grubauer, Moritz Seider and Marc Michaelis were voted the best players on the German team during the World Cup tournament in Finland.
For the quarter-final duel, national coach Toni Söderholm relied on the formations that were already active against Switzerland in the last preliminary round game. There were no changes in goal either: Philipp Grubauer made his fifth appearance at this World Cup, and Mathias Niederberger was once again available as a backup. Dominik Bitter, Dustin Strahlmeier and Tim Stützle, who had already left, were not in the lineup.
In the first third, the special teams made the difference: the first penalty against Germany was given after just 35 seconds, and the Czech Republic immediately sent the top formation into the race. And it also hit straight after David Pastrnak (3rd) was cleared. The second Czech goal also came in the majority: this time it was tournament top scorer Roman Cervenka, who gave Philipp Grubauer no chance after a dream combination with a well-placed shot (11th). Afterwards, Germany got better and better into the game offensively and created their first chances to score. The best was Lukas Reichel, who was able to get away from the face-off shortly before the end of the period. But the disc only landed on the post.
This happened in the second section DEB-Selection initially difficult to come up with offensive actions against the tactically clever Czechs. The German game only really took off when there was the first power play for the German team. Moritz Seider, Marcel Noebels and Daniel Fischbuch had three good opportunities here. A little later, however, the Czechs once again struck ice-cold with the advantage - David Krejci (33rd) was successful this time. After that the game became more and more open. Philipp Grubauer had to risk his life several times to keep Germany in the game. On the other side it turned DEB-Selection was strong and created many scoring chances with a lot of fighting spirit. Marcel Noebels had the best opportunity on a counterattack, but the puck only landed on the crossbar.
In the final section, the German team threw everything forward again. As in the first two periods, the Czechs defended very disciplined with the lead behind them. When the Czech Republic had to take a penalty, national coach Toni Söderholm risked everything: Grubauer left the box in favor of a sixth field player. During the following sequence, the German team built up a lot of pressure. It was Moritz Seider who finally hammered the disc into the net (54') - long overdue from a German perspective. Shortly afterwards, Philipp Grubauer made a monster save in a two-on-zero situation and rushed off the ice again shortly afterwards. In fact, Germany still had a huge chance through Lukas Reichel, but again the goal hit the crossbar. Ultimately, the courage and great fighting performance of the DEB-Choice not rewarded. Jiri Smejkal's Empty Net goal (59') made the final decision. The German team said goodbye to Finland, while the Czech Republic became the first semi-finalist.
Comments on the game and tournament
DEB-Vice President Andreas Niederberger: “It was a strong tournament. The team showed heart, the team played great games and we can only be proud of the team that represented German ice hockey outstandingly.”
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “Unfortunately it wasn’t enough today. The Czech Republic had a very good power play and we perhaps lacked the luck we had in other games. Nevertheless, I am incredibly proud of the whole team, the staff and the coaching team. Everyone had a very good tournament and gave everything from the first day to the last second. Now we're recovering well and then we'll come back in the new season. We continue on our path.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “The first 14 minutes were a bit too disorganized on our part in terms of timing and routes. That's not how we got into forechecking. The Czechs were very disciplined and tough in the duels, while we were a bit too passive, which gave them time. At the end of the first third we played some good build-up games. Maybe we lost a bit of patience after the first two goals, which is understandable. Even if you concede goals, you have to believe in yourself and your game plan. Without your head you can't win against these teams, the opponents are too well prepared and well coached. But when it comes to that, we've gotten a lot better in terms of overall development. We also need to spend more duels in the offensive third and develop even more power here. But we must also not forget that these tournaments are played at a very high level. The level is incredibly high, especially in the knockout games. In order to achieve something, we have to continue to get better at the little things.”
Striker Lukas Reichel: “We saw how good they are on the power play. With the same number of players, there were chances on both sides, but if you don’t score a goal, you can’t win a game.”
Striker Marc Michaelis: “It's very disappointing to lose against beatable Czechs. The penalties we took were avoidable and the Czechs have the top players who punish them in the majority. That was the decisive factor in our defeat.” Defender Leon Gawanke: “It's just disappointing. With the three power play goals we conceded, it's bitter. We knew that they had a strong power game with these world stars in their ranks. It's also bitter because, in my opinion, we had the better chances five-on-five. We probably had four or five things that could go in.”