The men's national ice hockey team secured its third consecutive World Cup victory. Before 9.109 Fans in the Ostrava Arena, national coach Harold Kreis's team won 4-2 against Poland on Saturday afternoon. The game remained goalless for a long time before that DEBteam took a 2-0 lead in the second period. In the final phase things got even more exciting with the Polish goal to make it 3-2. JJ Peter made the final score 4-2 with his second goal in this game. Alexander became the best German player Ehl.
The first third was characterized by consistent defensive work on both sides. So the first ones emerged late Scoring chances. Alan scored in the ninth minute Lyszczarchzyk with the best opportunity for Poland just the post of DEB-Tors, today Mathias Niederberger guarded. Previously, the Poles had a penalty against Yasin Ehliz their first power play (5th minute), but were unable to take advantage of the majority. That too DEBThe team had a few chances, but found it difficult to break the Polish defensive formation. In the 15th minute JJ Peter the lead on the bat, but Poland's goalie David Zabolotny was able to parry with his leg in time. Shortly before the break there was the second penalty against some DEB-Team.
But this second Polish power play also ended without a goal after the break. In the 26th minute, Krzysztof scored Matt for the Poles close to the goal Niederberger over. In the direct counterattack, the fourth line stormed DEBteams on the Polish goal. Maxi Kastner passed to Alex Ehl, whose shot that DEB-Team finally got on the scoreboard with the 1-0. Another counterattack led to the next big one DEB-Chance, but Krystian Dziubinski prevented the Germans' second goal by throwing his stick towards the puck. The result: a penalty JJ Peter made it 2-0 at halftime (36th).
In the final third, the German team again managed a quick breakout from their own zone via Leo Pföderl, the one on Yasin Ehliz forwarded. The Poles couldn't keep up with the backward movement, so Ehliz in peace through the legs of Zabolotny could play and make it 3-0. For Pföderl It was already the eighth point in the sixth preliminary round game at this World Cup. Seven minutes before the end, the Poles took control of the scoreboard in the German third and were able to reduce the score to 3-1. Patryk Wajda shot from behind the goal line towards Mathias Niederberger, met the German goalie on the back and from there the goal made it 3:2 (56th). The DEB-Team had the direct answer 52 seconds later: Lukas Reichel ran alone towards the Polish goal, but was denied by the Polish goalkeeper, who let the ball rebound forward. The one coming up JJ Peter shot the exposed puck into the goal to make the final score 4:2 (57th).
After six World Cup games, the... DEB-Selection nun twelve points in the account. The final preliminary round game against France will take place next Tuesday. The game starts at 12:20 p.m.
National coach Harold Kreis: “The Poles didn’t make the game easy for us today. Alexander Ehl's goal was a bit of an icebreaker. From that moment on we brought more speed into our game and took more control. That wasn't an easy task today and perhaps not everything worked out the way the players had imagined. But good teams always find a way to win the game. We now have two days off from play before the game against France, so the team can recharge their batteries physically and mentally and then we will go into the final group game with full strength.”
Captain Moritz Müller: “It was a hard-fought three points today and a really important win for us. We played a good game and just because the last two successes were so high, you can't expect it to be such an offensive spectacle every time. It was a fine line today between playing to win but not getting impatient. We had to work for success and we did it well. That was a lesson for us today that we mastered well enough to win the game in the end.”
Defender Colin Ugbekile: “It was a hard-fought game. It was important for us that we definitely took the three points with us today. The Poles held up well, so for us it was really about keeping the game simple and not making any big mistakes. We did that well and things are now looking pretty good for us in the table. We are here at a World Cup, where of course every team can play good ice hockey and the Poles showed that today. We have to play a good game in order to win in the end. We will use the next two days to regenerate and then of course we want to win the last group game against the French.”