U20 World Cup: DEB-Selection wins relegation match against Denmark

Despite the Danes' tough approach, the DEBThe German team took control of the game from the start and created some good early scoring opportunities. Lewandowski capitalized on the open space in front of the Danish net in the fourth minute to make it 1-0. During Germany's first power play just under three minutes later, Schäfer increased the lead to 2-0 (8th minute). However, shortly before the intermission, the Danes converted their second power play opportunity through Mads Klyvo to pull one back (18th minute). The score remained 2-1 at the first intermission.

In the second period, Germany capitalized on Danish errors in the build-up play and got off to a better start. Manuel Schams scored to make it 3-1 in the 23rd minute. Tobias Abstreiter's team continued to press and Seidl extended their lead to 4-1 in the 25th minute with a shot from a sharp angle. However, Denmark responded again on the power play: Klyvo scored his second goal of the game to make it 4-2 in the 27th minute. The Danes continued to play tenaciously, and Oliver Green scored from close range to make it 4-3 in the 31st minute. Lewandowski had the best chance to score Germany's fifth goal a minute before the intermission. DEB-Team, but the score was a close 4:3 going into the second break.

After the break, Denmark missed a golden opportunity to equalize just under two minutes in. Shortly after, the German team had a 5-on-3 power play for nearly a minute and a half, during which Willhöft scored a spectacular solo goal to make it 5-3 (46th minute). Denmark responded with dangerous attacks but remained unsuccessful. Defenseman Schams then scored his second goal (51st minute), but the three-goal lead didn't last long. Denmark's captain, Linde, made it 6-4 (52nd minute), but Lenny Boos extended the lead to 7-4 a minute later. Tobias Schwarz sealed the 8-4 victory with an empty-net goal.

For the best DEBDavid Lewandowski was chosen as the player of the match. Tobias Schwarz, Dustin Willhöft, and Lenny Boos were recognized as the best German players of the tournament.

Christian Künast, Sports Director of the DEB“Congratulations to Tobias Abstreiter and his team. We are naturally delighted to have secured an important victory today and thus guaranteed our place in the top division. This U20 World Championship has once again clearly demonstrated that it is time to question existing structures in the young talent sector and, if necessary, to break them down and change them. This requires a joint effort. Because this affects us all and can only be achieved together – from the young talent clubs to the leagues and professional leagues, right up to the national teams.”

U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: "We are relieved to be continuing in the top division. Our goal for the match against Denmark was to consistently deliver a strong performance, and we succeeded. It was a difficult situation, one that only the players who were already part of last year's relegation playoffs knew. Today, it was a good performance across all areas of the team, something we can be proud of. In the preliminary round, we only showed glimpses of what we had set out to do. We often made things difficult for ourselves. They are still young players; they need to gain these experiences to learn from them for the future."

Forward Dustin Willhöft"The entire team fought hard for over 60 minutes today and showed a passionate game against Denmark. We are delighted that we will be able to compete in the top division again next year. That's a really great feeling."

Official statistics for the game: IIHF Statistics #GERDEN