Olympics 2026: Men's team loses to the USA / Against France on Tuesday

Compared to the first two preliminary round matches, national coach Harold Kreis made two changes to the lineup against the USA. Goalkeeper Maximilian Franzreb started in goal, with Philipp Grubauer taking a seat on the bench as backup. Additionally, Parker Tuomie replaced Wojciech Stachowiak in attack, joining Marc Michaelis and Dominik Kahun.

Franzreb was called into action as early as the 2nd minute, but made a strong save against Matt Boldy. A fast-paced game ensued, with Germany playing bravely. The first shot on goal came from Lukas Reichel, who tried to beat US goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the near corner in the 5th minute. The next exciting moment came when the German team was shorthanded. Tobias Rieder pressed hard and got a shot on goal (8th minute), but almost immediately Franzreb made a save against Jake Guentzel (9th minute). The German team was finding their rhythm and even managed to create longer periods of puck possession. However, in the 14th minute, Matthew Tkachuk was again open in front of Franzreb, and the German goalie was called into action again. ParaThe German men's team then played their best minutes of the game so far. Lukas Kälble had the best chance in the 17th minute after being brilliantly set up. Moritz Seider then fired two dangerous shots from distance (18th minute). A draw seemed likely after the first period – until defenseman Zach Werenski, nine seconds before the intermission, fired the puck through Seider's legs to give the USA the lead.

At the start of the second period, Germany immediately had a power play opportunity, but Dylan Larkin almost scored a shorthanded goal. The US forward was denied by Franzreb (22nd minute). In the 24th minute, Jack Eichel, returning from the penalty box, drew a penalty against Kai Wissmann. Auston Matthews capitalized on the ensuing power play to make it 2-0 for the reigning world champions (24th minute). The USA increased the tempo, but Germany continued to keep the space tight. Opportunities arose during the next power play. JJ Peterka, Tim Stützle, and Seider overwhelmed Hellebuyck with shots (27th/28th minute). The Americans were slightly more clinical, but Franzreb remained a strong presence in goal. A 3-on-2 breakaway involving Peterka, Stützle, and Kälble in the 35th minute could have yielded more for Germany. Unfortunately, two minutes before the second intermission, Brock Faber extended the USA's lead. His shot from the blue line unfortunately ended up in the German goal (38th minute).

Germany dominated the opening minutes of the final period. Stützle narrowly missed the next counterattack (42nd minute). The USA remained more clinical, and Tage Thompson scored ruthlessly and decisively on the very next play in the 42nd minute to make it 4-0. The US team was now pulling away. Matthews parked himself in front of the net and completed his brace. The German team continued to try and fight back. A shot from Seider slipped past the post (51st minute), but in the 52nd minute, Stützle, after a beautiful setup by Peterka, waited patiently before placing the puck perfectly into the top corner. Shortly afterward, a second goal would have been possible, as Kai Wissmann created another scoring chance in front of Hellebuyck. Ultimately, the USA held on for a well-deserved victory.

Statistics #USAGER

Official IIHF statistics: Game Stats #USAGER

Official website of the 2026 Winter Olympics: Website MilanoCortina2026

Reactions to the game #GERUSA

National coach Harold Kreis"The Americans played really well today. Nevertheless, we were absolutely on par in the first period – those were probably our best 20 minutes of the entire tournament. After that, you could tell that the USA shifted into another gear in the second period. We then made a few decisions with the puck that weren't optimal, and as a result, we were under constant pressure. In the final period, we reverted to a simpler style of play: pucks deep, quicker movement – ​​just as we had planned. What we definitely take away from this game is the good first period – that's the standard we want to play at against France as well. We coaches don't just look for the negatives – we know that we're capable of much more than we showed over 60 minutes today."

Assistant captain Moritz Seider: "We had a very strong first period, at least until the last eight and a half seconds. But I wouldn't say that was the turning point. In the second period, we simply abandoned our structure, that was clearly visible. Whether it was fatigue or a lack of concentration, I don't know, but once again our start was positive. That's been a recurring theme throughout the tournament: as soon as the puck drops, we're right there. But then we had a few simple, unnecessary turnovers. You could see that we were trying to force things at times. We need to get back to our simple game: pucks deep, behind the defenders, doing the right thing shift after shift. Then the chances will come automatically because the Americans, and future opponents as well, will eventually get frustrated."

Striker Marc Michaelis: “We had a really good first period. Conceding that goal just before the break was obviously unfortunate. In the second period, we simply gave the Americans too many chances and consequently found ourselves down 0-3. We actually started the final period well; we wanted to give it our all again – but the Americans are a strong team. As soon as we gave them any space, they immediately capitalized. In the end, the result was unfortunately decisive, which is very frustrating. But we have to keep our heads up now and prepare intensively for our next opponent in the qualifying round.”