The German national team has its fourth game at the 2024 IIHFIce Hockey World Championship achieved their second victory. National coach Harold Kreis' selection won against the team from Latvia 8:1 (2:0, 5:1, 1:0) in front of 8.652 spectators Ostrava Arena in Ostrava. Marc Michaelis became the best player of the DEBteams selected. Like last Monday, Philipp started again today Grubauer in the German goal. Nico Sturm and Maksymilian Szuber returned to the line-up.
From the beginning it dictated DEB-Selected the tempo and had good chances in the first few minutes. Thanks to a strong back check in the Latvians' third, Nico Sturm captured the puck. The following shot from Lukas Calves The Latvian was able to get from the blue line goalie Christers Gudlevskis still parry, was on the rebound from DEB-Striker Dominik direction but had no chance. The German 1-0 lead after six minutes was deserved, but it was also a wake-up call for the Latvians. The bronze medalist of the last World Cup now found his way into the game better, and an open exchange of blows developed. In the first power play of the game, the Latvians, with one more man, narrowly missed the equalizer when Martins Dzierkals didn't hit the puck properly at the far post. Immediately after the penalty against the German team, the Latvians had to play outnumbered. And that DEBteam was more successful in the power play: Kai turned around in the 19th minute Wissman soloed the Latvian defenders and made it 2-0 at halftime with a precise shot.
Just as the first third ended, the second began - with a goal for the German team. After just 42 seconds played, Leo closed Pföderl a 3-on-2 counterattack after a pass from Yasin Ehliz and Jonas Müller made it 3-0 (21st). Two minutes later, Parker increased Tuomie to 4:0 (23rd). The goal led to a goalkeeper change in the Latvian team shortly afterwards: NHL goalie Elvis Merzlikins came for Gudlevskis. But also Merzlikins had to reach behind him for the first time just 99 seconds later. Scored on the power play JJ Peter his first goal at this World Cup (26th). In the 31st minute, Marc Michaelis completed half the dozen: when he was in the majority, he got to the loose puck quickest and put it in the Latvian goal from close range. JJ Peter made it 7-0 after his shot from a skate went through the legs of Merzlikins was deflected (36th). Just before the break Markus Komuls the first goal for Latvia (40th).
In the first minutes of the final third, the Latvians tried to do something offensive, but this was well defended by the German defense. The Germans scored the goal again in the 45th minute. Nico Sturm prevailed in the duel and brought his own rebound over the line to make it 8:1. A Latvian goal around ten minutes before the end was awarded to the Germans Coach's Challenge and video evidence withdrawn due to offside play. So the score remained 8:1, which also meant the final score of this fast-paced game. The 8:1 is the highest World Cup victory by a German national team since 2002.
The next group game is scheduled for Friday. It's against Kazakhstan at 16:20 p.m.
National coach Harold Kreis: “The team played compact and disciplined from the first face-off. We knew that the Latvians had a strong bond. We controlled it well, tackled the duels effectively and won so many targets. Overall, this was a solid game over 60 minutes. We discussed in advance that we didn’t want to take our foot off the gas and the boys did an excellent job.”
Defender Kai Wissmann: “We knew that Latvia were a strong team and started the game very well today. We definitely improved our work in the defensive zone, which was important for us. Yesterday we talked about it again as a group and went through it in training. There were hardly any chances for the Latvians today and few shots from the slot. At the same time, we took advantage of our chances in an ice-cold manner, which then led to the goals.”
Striker Nico Sturm: “It paid off that we as a team can be open with each other and talk about what we want to do better. We have already implemented this in training. We therefore gained more confidence in our own zone today and defended much better. This is the most important building block for our game and we can build on it. It won’t be any easier in the next few games, we’ll face unpleasant opponents.”