The men's national team missed the semi-finals of the Ice Hockey World Championships in the Czech Republic. They lost in the quarter-final game on Thursday afternoon DEB-Selection of Switzerland 1:3. The Ostrava Arena saw 6.583 Fans an exciting game in which the German players were able to improve in the second third, but in the end they were no longer able to catch up with the Swiss. Best DEBThe actor of the day was Dominik Kahun.
The first third didn't start according to plan for the German national team, as after just 13 seconds Kai Wissmann had to go to the penalty box for excessive harshness. The power play played into the hands of the Swiss, who did so right from the start DEBteam under pressure and Philipp Grubauer, who today DEBgoal, were able to test several times. This continued even in the first German power play shortly afterwards, when the Swiss were able to intercept a German pass in their own third, and Christoph Bertschy secured the Swiss 1:0 lead with a precise shot into the top corner (8th minute). In the 17th minute, the Swiss again established themselves in the German third, the German defense was unable to access the puck at this point. And so NHL star Nico Hischier scored the 2:0 from a free position on the right side. The Swiss let the DEB-Team had little room for offensive accents in the first 20 minutes, so their lead at the break was adequate.
The second third also began with a majority game for the Swiss. But from the Swiss point of view, nothing significant came out of it. In the 31st minute DEB-Goalie Grubauer once again distinguished himself with a strong save. Just a few moments later, a dangerous knee check by the Swiss Andrea Glauser against JJ Peterka led to the second German power play, which should only last four seconds. Wojciech Stachowiak won the face-off, the puck bounced back to Dominik Kahun, who scored the 2-1 goal without any problems (32'). The hit gave the DEBteam visibly gained new momentum, because from then on the game went to Leonardo Genoni's goal. Dominik Kahun once again had the best chance to equalize when he hit the post two minutes before the break.
At halftime, the Swiss received another penalty, so Germany started the final third with one man more. The German power play was again too rigid and resulted in few shots. Afterwards, Switzerland gained more offensive shares again, but also the strong defensive performance DEB-Team prevented another goal. Both teams defended passionately, which was reflected in the low number of shots on goal, a total of just 4:5, especially in the final third. This also included the best chance to equalize 2-2 by Lukas Reichel, who was denied by Genoni two minutes before the end. National coach Kreis finally took Philipp Grubauer off the ice. The Swiss Bertschy fought for the puck in the Swiss third and put the puck into the empty German goal from the halfway line to make it 3-1. It was supposed to be the decision and the World Cup exit for the German national team, which was able to reach the quarter-finals for the fifth time in a row.
After the game, the three best German players of the World Cup tournament, JJ Peterka, Wojciech Stachowiak and Leo Pföderl, were honored. The national team will travel back to Germany tomorrow, Friday.
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “Of course, the disappointment over the elimination in the World Cup quarter-finals is currently outweighing. We fought back today, but it wasn't quite enough to win the game today. Nevertheless, I am very proud of the entire team, the coaching staff and the whole team around it. I would also like to say a big thank you on behalf of the association leadership for the excellent work. Overall, it was another good tournament performance that the team showed this year.”
National coach Harold Kreis: “Despite a not so good start to the game, the team showed character again and tried everything they could to turn the game around. From the second period onwards we had more of the game. The Swiss were very good defensively and therefore didn't make it easy for us to create compelling scoring opportunities. What sets our team apart is that they fought their way back into the game and never gave up. But today we unfortunately ran out of time. As a conclusion to the tournament, I can say that the team once again got the most out of themselves. Overall, I am very satisfied with the team and their commitment.”
Striker Yasin Ehliz: “The first twenty minutes of the game were not ideal today. The Swiss were always one step faster and won the duels. It wasn't a good first third for us. After that we came out of the locker room much better, but in the end it wasn't enough. The positive thing that will remain is that, apart from the two games against the USA and Sweden, we played a strong tournament overall. We can definitely take that with us.”
Striker Nico Sturm: “The start of the game made the difference today. Maybe we had a little too much respect, were too slow and took too many penalties. It would have been possible to go one step further today. In the second and third thirds we did more for the game than the Swiss. But at this level you have to deliver a top performance over 60 minutes and unfortunately it wasn't quite enough for us today. But all in all I'm very proud of the boys. We once again presented ourselves from a very good side at this tournament and earned a lot of respect.”