The German U20 national team started the tournament with a defeat at the 2023 IIHF U20 World Championship in Canada on Tuesday evening. The team of U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter lost to Sweden by a very narrow margin of 0:1.
The German team played strongly in the first third and had some good scoring opportunities. Nikita Quapp had to parry the first chance of the game in the German goal when Swede Jonathan Lekkerimaki came free to shoot. Almost eight minutes before the first break, Germany played in the majority for the first time. Julian Lutz and Thomas Haigl had a dangerous double chance, which Sweden goalie Carl Lindbom was able to defuse. 22 seconds before the first break, Adam Engstrom scored the first goal of the evening with a shot from the blue line (20th).
The second period ended without another goal. The Swedes shifted up a gear: the Tre Kronores fired 18 shots on goal in the middle section alone, creating a lot of work for the German defense. A power play in the 34th minute gave the German team some breathing space, but no significant opportunity arose. Three and a half minutes before the second break, the Swedes were awarded a penalty after a hook foul. Goalie Quapp successfully blocked Fabian Lysell's shot. This had to happen immediately afterwards DEB-Team again outnumbered, later even with two men less, but again remained unscathed.
With the narrow lead we went into the final third. And Germany started here with a power play. However, due to the strong defensive work of the Swedes, Tobias Abstreiter's team failed to achieve anything worthwhile. Four minutes into the third, Robin von Calster had a great chance to equalize in the slot. Just a few minutes later, Ryan Del Monte also missed the goal. On the other hand, Nikita Quapp continued to excel and kept his team within striking distance. Eight minutes before the final siren, Yannick Proske again caused some chaos in front of the Swedish goal, the post prevented the equalizer. The German team created further top-class opportunities in the final minutes, which also encouraged the Canadian audience to shout “Let's Go Germany!” But Carl Lindbom kept his nerve in every situation, didn't allow a goal and secured his second shutout at this World Cup.
In the end, the victory for the Scandinavians is deserved. However, a point for the German team was definitely within the realm of possibility. Player of the evening was Nikita Quapp on the German side.
Moving on for that DEBteam will face defending champions Canada on Wednesday. The hosts botched their opening match in the tournament, losing 2-5 to the Czech Republic. The match will be broadcast live and free of charge on Magenta Sport. Face off is at 0:30 a.m. (German time).
U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: “I have to say about today’s game that the team did a very good job of implementing the things we set out to do. We gave ourselves a chance to win the game against Sweden in the opener. It was a very close game and in the end we had the momentum, as they say, on our side. Unfortunately, we were unable to reward ourselves for the self-sacrificing effort and passion we brought. But I think we can build on that for the next games.”
Striker Yannick Proske: “I think we can be very happy with ourselves overall. We played well and tried to do the little things right as much as possible. We succeeded for the most part. We had the ability to get to the goal, put our shots on goal and also accepted the duels. Nikita Quapp also kept us in the game. We just have to keep taking advantage of the opportunities and I think if we continue like we did today we are on the right track and then the decisive goal will come for us.”