U20 World Cup: DEB-Selection remains unsuccessful against Slovakia

Even though the German team had the first chance shortly after the start through Timo Kose, they managed to... DEBThe selection failed to build further pressure on the Slovakian goal. Slovakia, however, gained momentum with their first power play and initially missed the lead after hitting the crossbar. Ten minutes later, Tomas Chrenko scored the opening goal with a turn and shot. During their second power play shortly before the intermission, it was Chrenko again who converted a cross-ice pass through the slot to make it 2-0 at the break (20th minute).

After the break, the DEBThe team needed to improve and create more scoring opportunities. After another German penalty kill, around the 30th minute, the German team launched several strong attacks, which Slovakian goalie Michal Pradel managed to save at the last possible moment. Germany was close to scoring at this point, but it was precisely during this phase that Chrenko struck again on the power play, making it 3-0 (34th minute) after Lenny Boos received a two-plus-two-minute penalty.

In the final period, the Slovakian team focused on defense, but Germany couldn't capitalize on this. Shots on goal were initially scarce, partly because the German team struggled to gain control of the game. In the 47th minute, Boos and immediately afterward Willhöft had the best chances to close the gap. Slovakia's only penalty remained scoreless. With about nine minutes remaining, Willhöft broke through the Slovakian defense and slotted home unchallenged to make it 3-1 (52nd minute). The goal injected further momentum into the German offense, which had two more excellent scoring opportunities through Maxim Schäfer and Elias Schneider. A two-man disadvantage shortly before the end hampered Germany's comeback efforts. Adam Belusko sealed the 4-1 victory with an empty-net goal.

DEBLinus Vieillard was chosen as player of the evening.

For the DEBThe selection process continues with a free Sunday. next World Cup gameThe match is scheduled for next Monday, December 29th. The opponent is the team from Sweden. Kick-off is at 12:00 PM local time (19:00 PM German time). The game will be streamed live and free of charge at MagentaSport transfer.

U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: "We are naturally disappointed by the defeat. We didn't get into the game today; the Slovaks were simply better than us in the first 30 minutes. They were more aggressive in the challenges and wanted it more. At this level, nothing comes easy; you have to push yourself to and even beyond your limits to be successful. We didn't give ourselves that opportunity today."

Defender Carlos Händel: "We weren't as good today as we were yesterday against the USA. We wanted too much and therefore didn't get off to a good start. The Slovaks got into the game better and deservedly won in the end. We also took some unfortunate penalties and lost our momentum. We need to do better in the next games."

Official statistics for the game: IIHF statistics #SVKGER

All games of the IIHF U20 World Championship are available live and free of charge at MagentaSport.