The The German men's ice hockey team has reached the semi-finals at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina. Germany missed out. The team coached by Harold Kreis lost 2-6 (0-1, 1-3, 1-2) to Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Lukas Reichel and Frederik Tiffels scored the goals for Germany in front of 9.532 spectators at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
The German team, unchanged from the qualifying game against France, battled Slovakia in a hard-fought first period. The first noteworthy shot came from Samuel Takac in the fifth minute, which Philipp Grubauer saved. Three minutes later, Moritz Seider had Germany's first good scoring opportunity. The German team then defended well during their first penalty kill. Shortly after, they had a power play opportunity of their own. John-Jason Peterka had a chance to take the lead, but Slovakian defenseman Peter Ceresnak deflected the shot decisively (12th minute). In the 14th minute, Grubauer had to make a save against Dalibor Dvorsky. After that, the German team kept the Slovaks pinned in their own zone for a considerable amount of time. Shortly before the end of the period, Tobias Rieder was fouled, but the referee didn't call a penalty. Pavol Regenda then deflected a long-range shot, giving Slovakia the lead (19th minute). Germany almost responded before the intermission, but Frederik Tiffels and Leon Draisaitl unfortunately missed a counterattack opportunity (20th minute).
Germany came out strong in the second period. But Slovakian defenseman Eric Cernak created danger from the blue line (24th minute). The 25th minute was eventful: Milos Kelemen increased the lead after winning a battle for the puck, and Marc Michaelis had a chance to pull one back. Just seconds later, Germany was caught too open, which Oliver Okuliar punished with two quick goals to make it 3-0. Only 33 seconds separated the two goals. Coach Harold Kreis's team was determined to get back into the game. Instead, Dvorsky capitalized on another Slovakian counterattack in the 31st minute. Germany was slow to regain their composure but then switched back to attack. Finally, Lukas Reichel scored the first goal with a one-timer in the 35th minute, rekindling hope. In the 40th minute, the forward even came close to scoring a second, but Samuel Hlavaj in the Slovakian net prevented it.
Shortly after the start of the final period, Regenda completed his brace (41st minute). Germany subsequently created scoring opportunities through Draisaitl and Reichel (44th/47th minutes). The next power play was also dangerous thanks to Joshua Samanski (48th minute), and Seider unfortunately only hit the post (49th minute). In the 50th minute, however, the power play goal finally came. Frederik Tiffels scored with a one-timer. The German team tried everything again, driving the pucks towards the net – without success. Two rebounds by Peterka and Samanski also missed their mark (53rd/57th minutes). In the 57th minute, Grubauer was pulled for an extra attacker, and Tomas Tatar sealed the 2-6 final score with a shot into the empty German net.
Statistics #SVKFRA
Official IIHF statistics: Game Stats #SVKGER
Official website of the 2026 Winter Olympics: Website MilanoCortina2026
Reactions to the game #SVKFRA
Christian Künast, Sports Director of the DEB: "With both our national teams reaching the quarterfinals, we've achieved our internal association goal. But of course, we had higher expectations for today's match and are understandably disappointed after being knocked out. Slovakia was a step ahead in the crucial moments – they had played fewer games and were fresher today. They worked hard for their victory and deserved it. We have to acknowledge that. Now it's important to calmly analyze the tournament, take the experience with us, and draw the right conclusions for the challenges ahead."
National coach Harold Kreis"The Slovaks played very quickly on the attack and got the puck behind our defensemen. They tried to build speed through the neutral zone to put us under pressure with their skating. They succeeded well at this; they played very well and also put us under pressure with their play. In the second period, we pressed too hard and lost our structure. We also made some individual mistakes, and situations arose from battles for the puck. In the end, we couldn't close the gap, even though we fought until the very end."
Captain Leon Draisaitl: "We simply made too many mistakes today. In a game like this, you have to give yourself as many chances as possible to win. We didn't do that. I don't know how many counter-attacks we conceded. There were definitely too many. When you play like that, you don't even give yourself a chance. I think we wanted to play better overall in the tournament. We never really found our optimal form."
Assistant captain Moritz Seider: "The second period was crucial for the entire game. After conceding the second goal, we lost our rhythm and structure and got caught on the counter-attack too often. We tried to force the issue, and that rarely works. We never really regained control of the game and lost decisively. Being knocked out of the tournament is a bitter pill to swallow."