In the fifth game of the IIHF World Championship 2026 has Men's national team They secured their first tournament victory. In front of 7.925 spectators at the Swiss Life Arena, the team coached by Harold Kreis won 6-2 (2-0, 2-0, 2-2) against Hungary. Goal scorers for the DEBThe selected players were Eric Mik, Leon Gawanke (3), Lukas Reichel and Samuel Dove-McFalls. Philipp Grubauer played in goal today.
The German team started energetically after the opening face-off and pushed the Hungarians onto the defensive. After the first German power play (7th minute), which remained scoreless, Eric Mik scored from the wing during a 5-on-5 situation to make it 1-0 (9th minute). The German team continued to press forward. DEBThe team gained more possession with high speed and repeatedly established themselves in the offensive zone. Shortly before the break, Gawanke converted the second power play to give them a 2-0 lead at halftime (20th minute).
In the second period, Team Germany maintained the pace of the first and continued to impress with their high work rate. For extended periods, they maintained intense pressure on the Hungarian goal. The shot count stood at 20-2 at the end of the period. They had to wait until several minutes before scoring their third goal. DEBThe men, however, waited until the 40th minute. Reichel extended the lead after a cross from Frederik Tiffels. Eleven seconds before the end, Dove-McFalls increased the score to a deserved 4-0 with his first international goal (40').
The DEBThe team continued to dominate in the final period and scored their fifth goal (42nd minute) through Gawanke after a give-and-go with Maximilian Kastner. Tamas Sarpatki put Hungary on the board in the 45th minute, making it 5-1. A turnover in the neutral zone led to a Hungarian counterattack, but the resulting goal was disallowed after a coach's challenge (goaltender interference). On the ensuing possession, Gawanke completed his hat trick with the sixth goal (50th minute). Hungary's Janos Hari scored on a rebound to make it 6-2 (58th minute), but the goal was ruled offside after a coach's challenge. After 60 minutes, the DEB-Team to secure their first three points of this World Cup.
Best DEBLeon Gawanke became the player.
The next World Cup match in Group A takes place on Saturday evening. The opponent is the Austrian team, with kickoff at 20:20 pm.
Statistics for the game #GERHUN
Reactions to the game #GERHUN
National coach Harold Kreis: "Our team had the game well under control. We consistently put the Hungarians under pressure, so they hardly got out of their own zone. We implemented that plan today and therefore deservedly won in the end. I congratulate Leon Gawanke on his hat trick; I'm happy for him. The three points are important for us. But tomorrow against Austria will be a completely different game."
Defender Leon Gawanke: “The win feels great. It was a must-win for us, and we ultimately accomplished the task quite convincingly. We wanted to dominate the game, and we succeeded. In doing so, we showed that we can put an opponent under pressure for 60 minutes. It's a great honor for me to be the first German defender to score a hat trick at a World Championship. That, of course, sweetens the victory for me personally.”
Forward Parker Tuomie: "The win feels amazing. We know we didn't get off to the best start in the tournament. Today was another important step in the right direction. We finally scored on the power play. Overall, we got a lot of shots on goal because our play was very direct. We want to show the same effort against Austria and we're already looking forward to tomorrow's game."