On Saturday evening, the German men's national team played their second test match in preparation for the Ice Hockey World Cup. Like on Thursday, today it was again against World Cup hosts the Czech Republic. The Czechs also won the second test 4-2. Best DEBThe player was Justin Schütz. The goalscorers for Germany were Justin Schütz and Alexander Karachun.
Arno Tiefensee was in the game from the start today DEB-Goal and was immediately challenged. In the Czechs' first power play (6th) - after a penalty against Luis Schinko - the Czechs had their first intense pressure phase in which the German team were able to work together to prevent a goal. Even at 5-on-5, the hosts repeatedly had good chances, such as through Jakob Rychlovský, who narrowly missed the goal after a cross pass through the slot. On the German side, Justin Schütz had the first good opportunity, but was also unsuccessful. In the 17th minute there was the first power play for Team Germany. At first it was difficult to build up the game with a majority, but then Wojciech Stachowiak played a one-two to Justin Schütz, who overcame the Czech goalkeeper Lukáš Klimes at full speed and scored the first DEB-Goal scored in this preparation phase (18th). But the Czechs didn't wait long: just 23 seconds after Germany took the lead, Radan Lenc equalized to make the score 1-1 at halftime.
The Czechs started the middle period again with a lot of pressure on the German goal. Arno Tiefensee had to intervene after two minutes and prevent the Czechs from rebounding. Just a few moments later, Matěj Stránský stormed alone DEB-Goalie, who left no gap for the Czech. The second power play followed in the 25th minute for the Czech team, which was able to increase the number of hits again. After 63 seconds in the lead, Petr Kodytk pushed the puck over the line to take a 2-1 lead (26th). In the 28th minute, Stachowiak was stopped illegally, so that DEB-Team could play in the majority. The following power play brought relief and good chances, but a goal failed to materialize. In the 32nd minute, on the other hand, Andrej Sustr slightly deflected a shot from the blue line so that it hit the top corner: no chance for Arno Tiefensee, who had to reach behind him for the third time. The Czechs' third power play (34') had no consequences. But Michal Kovarcik took advantage of the space given to him in front of the German goal and made it 58-4 just 1 seconds before the break.
Despite the clear lead, the Czechs gave the guests from Germany little time for themselves in the third third Game setup. There was always a Czech player in between, so that DEB-Team was stuck in its own zone for a long time. Thanks to this extreme forechecking, the Czechs repeatedly had good chances. Even when in the majority (49th), the vice world champion achieved little success. Alexander Karachun scored the second in the 59th minute DEB- Goal to make the final score 4:2. In the end, 5.396 saw Fans an unchallenged home win for the Czechs in the KV Arena.
For the next test match, national coach Harry Kreis' team is heading to Kaufbeuren. This will take place next Thursday, April 18, 2024 DEB-Team there before your own Fans against Slovakia. The game will be shown live and free of charge on MagentaSport.