The men's national team achieved its fifth victory in the seventh preliminary round game at the Ice Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic. In front of 9.109 spectators in the Ostrava Arena, the team of national coach Harold Kreis won 6:3 (1:1, 2:3, 0:2) against France. In an eventful game he succeeded DEB-Selection took their first lead after being behind until the 31st minute, which they didn't relinquish in a row. The national team thus completed the preliminary round with 15 points from seven games in Group B and qualified for the World Cup finals for the fifth time in a row. The best German player that afternoon was Wojciech Stachowiak. Striker Dominik Kahun also played his 100th international match for Germany today.
Right from the start of the game, Germany was able to play in the majority. Justin Addamo on pages France had to go to the penalty box. With one more man, Leo's first opportunities arose Pföderl, Wojciech Stachowiak and Marc Michaelis. Shortly afterwards, Dominik direction and Stachowiak Each solo has the chance to take the lead. The French were also close when Enzo Cantagallo only hit the post in the eleventh minute. Six minutes later France took the lead: Valentin Claireaux completed a quick counterattack after a pass from Justin Addamo to make it 1-0 (17th minute). With the second German power play just a few seconds after the first goal, that remained DEB-Selection was still unsuccessful, but shortly after the penalty Marc Michaelis scored thanks to a quick combination from Yasin Ehliz and Dominic direction from an acute angle to make the score 1-1 at halftime (19th).
The equalizer didn't last long. Only 69 seconds after the break, Anthony Rech took the lead for the French again (41st). The first penalty against Team Germany because Nico Sturm for holding had to get out, remained without consequences, although the German team had two opportunities for a shorthanded goal Ehliz had. Lukas scored at 5-on-5 Calves in the 26th minute his own rebound after a 3-on-1 counterattack to equalize 2-2 (26th). Just 22 seconds later, the French made it 3-2 after a long lob pass Sacha Trellis (27th). Another German goal was ruled out for offside Coach's Challenge withdrawn. But in the 32nd minute Wojciech scored Stachowiak With his first goal of the tournament, the score was 3-3 and at the same time a new one DEB-Goal record in a World Cup preliminary round. Again it was 22 seconds until the next goal: This time Maxi Kastner took the first German lead (32nd). Another goal from DEB-Teams by Leo Pföderl shortly before the break it was due Goalkeeper interference after another Coach's Challenge was taken back, so we went into the dressing room a second time with a 4:3 lead.
After the break, the German team started straight away with another success story: Wojciech Stachowiak successfully completed a solo effort and scored his second goal in the game to make it 5:3 (42nd). In the 45th minute of the game, the French had to accept another penalty and that DEB-Team used the power play after just 13 seconds to make it 6:3 through Lukas Reichel. France then changed the goalkeeper. Another power play for the DEB remained without a goal, as did the rest of the game. Five minutes before the end Freddie received Tiffels another 5-minute penalty and a game-time disciplinary penalty for checking the boards. And so the seventh preliminary round game ended with the fifth victory. The final placement will be decided with the last two games in Group B.
The World Cup quarter-finals will take place next Thursday, May 23rd. The opponent and the exact playing time will be determined after today's matchday.
National coach Harold Kreis: "The last 30 minutes of the game were clearly ours. The French had the better start to the game, which we struggled with at the beginning. Our team then corrected that, controlled the pucks and the zones better and then the goals came. Sometimes it looks easier than it is, it was really hard work. I think that today's result is absolutely deserved. The team has performed very well so far and so we are going into the quarter-finals with a positive feeling. We'll just wait and see who our opponents will be. Of course we will take on anyone, that's quite clear."
Striker Maximilian Kastner: "It was a nerve-wracking game. At the beginning we made a few individual mistakes and gave the French too much freedom. But we showed character and stayed true to our system. We always kept pushing forward and were rewarded with three points today. We don't have a favorite opponent for the upcoming quarter-finals, we'll take anyone."
Defender Lukas Kälble: "It was a wild game at the beginning and an open exchange of blows, but we always found the right answers. Ultimately, we played it solidly to the end and won the game. We have shown good performances in the last few games and we can build on that. We are all really looking forward to the quarter-finals now, even if the opponent is not yet known. For me, it is the first World Cup and therefore also my first quarter-final. I am of course excited about it, just like all the other guys."