In game two of the IIHF U18 World Championship 2026 In Slovakia (Trenčín and Bratislava), the team from U18 national coach Andreas Becherer The team from Denmark played today, Thursday. Around 1.000 spectators came to the Vladimir Dzurilla Ice Arena in Bratislava, where the DEBThe German team suffered a 1-4 defeat against the Danish team. Tim Hartmann scored the goal for Germany.
The German Young Talent team will play their third World Championship game on Saturday, April 25, 2026. They will face the Czech Republic at 12:00 PM.
The German team wanted to put the newly promoted Danish side under considerable pressure from the start. In fact, it only took until the 4th minute for Tim Hartmann to score. DEBThe German team took a 1-0 lead. The team, coached by U18 national coach Andreas Becherer, stayed in the game, maintaining a strong defensive performance and repeatedly creating dangerous scoring opportunities. However, some inaccuracies with the puck allowed Denmark to create further scoring chances. Roughly halfway through the first period, the German team had their first power play – but the power play failed to produce a goal. During the subsequent Danish power play, they applied enormous pressure, but were unable to put the puck past the German net. The Scandinavians improved their play towards the end of the first period – and promptly equalized in the 18th minute through Lucas Althof, making it 1-1. The score remained 1-1 going into the first intermission.
The second period began for the DEB-Selection while shorthanded – due to a hooking penalty that Daniel Kettler received at the end of the first period. The Danes created good chances on the power play, including a shot by Lucas Kjelgaard that hit the crossbar of the German goal. DEBGermany then had a good period of sustained pressure, but the Danes also repeatedly created their own opportunities. Denmark capitalized on a German penalty against Luis Becker to take the lead for the first time in the game – Andreas Kloeve scored in the 27th minute. Germany then pressed forward again, but Danish goaltender Anton Wilde kept a clean sheet. This period was abruptly interrupted by a high-sticking penalty against Nikita Bloch, but it had no further consequences. After a hard-fought final stretch and a scoreless German power play, the teams went into the locker room with Denmark holding a narrow lead.
In the final period, just seconds in, a scare for the German team – the post denied Denmark a third goal. Around five minutes had passed when Germany applied pressure to the Danish net, including a double chance for Lukas Steinhauser – but there was no getting past Danish goalie Anton Wilde. The game remained fiercely contested. A penalty against Germany for tripping Lukas Steinhauser failed to allow the Danes to extend their lead. With about four minutes remaining, Max Calce had a great opportunity, but the Danish goalie made the save once again. With just over two minutes left on the clock, U18 national coach Andreas Becherer pulled goalie Niclas Wolter. Andreas Kloeve capitalized on this to make it 3-1, and Alexander Lepola added another goal to make it 4-1, which was also the final score.
Max Calce was awarded the title of best German player of the game.
Official statistics:DENGER
Voices on the game #DENGER
U18 national coach Andreas Becherer"First of all, we're naturally disappointed. We had high hopes. But that's sports: even though we had more of the game and more shots on goal, in the end only the scoreboard counts. Today we weren't able to convert the momentum we repeatedly had into goals. Now we need to clear our heads, recover, thoroughly analyze the game, and then fully focus on the crucial moments in the next two matches."
Striker Lukas Steinhauser“We had some good moments in the game, but we didn't consistently capitalize on our chances. In the end, we simply weren't clinical enough – the Danes were much more ruthless. Now we need to put this game behind us, focus on the last two matches, and do better there.”