Germany achieves the second mandatory win in a row at the Ice Hockey World Championships. The chance of reaching the quarterfinals is good. On Sunday, however, the next victory must come against outsiders Hungary.
Germany’s national ice hockey team has finally set course for the quarter-finals with its second mandatory win within 24 hours at the World Championships in Finland and Latvia.
The selection of national coach Harold Kreis won 4:2 (2:1, 1:0, 1:1) against Austria and in the two remaining preliminary round games against the outsiders Hungary and France can make the desired return to the last eight perfect.
One evening after the important 6:4 in the all-or-nothing game against the toughest competitor Denmark, Stanley Cup winner Nico Sturm (5th/59th minute) and Parker Tuomie (17th) from Straubing scored in Tampere Tigers and Wojciech Stachowiak (34th) from ERC Ingolstadt for the German team. “I don’t think it was our best game today. We played well at times, but at times we made it too easy for the Austrians,” summed up captain Moritz Müller. Kreis classified it as a “tough game” at Sport1: “Austria forced us to play a kind of ice hockey that we don’t prefer,” said the coach.
Germany still under pressure despite the victory
Bernd Wolf (12th) from HC Lugano and Lukas Haudum from KAC Klagenfurt (54th) were successful for outsiders Austria. “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. We’ve got the three points, that’s the only thing that counts,” commented goal scorer Stachowiak on MagentaSport’s work victory.
The selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation continues on Sunday (3.20 p.m. / Sport1 and MagentaSport) against Hungary. Then the third win in a row is mandatory. After the unfortunate opening defeats against the top teams Sweden (0:1), Finland (3:4) and the USA (2:3), Germany is still under pressure to reach the minimum goal of quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the knot seems to have burst after the important win against the Danes. “Of course yesterday’s game gave me confidence,” said NHL forward Sturm from the San Jose Sharks during the first third break at Sport1.
In fact, the performance against Austria was initially more confident than against the Danes. Sturm also went ahead against the conservative and playfully weak Austrians and scored the first German 1-0 lead so far in this tournament with a remarkable individual action.
Unlike on Thursday, when Germany had started very nervously given the pressure against the Danes, this time the DEB selection started dominantly. A painful slap shot put NHL defender Moritz Seider out of action after a good ten minutes. The 22-year-old from Detroit Red Wings staggered off the ice. The Austrians used the ensuing disorder in the German defense for a surprising equalizer, which Straubing’s Tuomie from the fourth line of attackers, who had triumphed so far at the World Cup, countered to give the Germans the lead again.
Weak middle third of the DEB selection
Although NHL striker Sturm warned in the first third break and urged more consistency, a very weak middle third followed, in which the German team inexplicably struggled. It was again the refreshing fourth line of attack that nevertheless provided the reassuring third goal. Stachowiak from runner-up Ingolstadt completed again after going it alone.
In the final section, too, the 7,451 spectators saw a lot of cramping, which national coach Kreis had apparently already suspected. “There is always a certain explosiveness,” Kreis had said before the game at MagentaSport. “You can’t be overly motivated, you have to keep a cool head.” After all, that’s what the German team did after Austria’s goal six minutes before the end and brought the work victory over time. Sturm made everything clear with his second goal in the orphaned goal.
Source: Stern
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