The German runner-up received a lesson at the World Ice Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic. National coach Harold Kreis’s side suffered a bitter 1:6 (0:2, 1:2, 0:2) loss to the United States in their second qualifying round match on Saturday.
Twenty-eight hours after its opening 6-4 victory over third-placed Slovakia, Germany suffered its first setback. Only Yasin Ihles (35) scored for DEB in front of 9,000 spectators at Ostravar Stadium, including 3,000 German fans.
“There are some things we can do better: we can play with more confidence – we had great respect for the Americans.”Colin Ogbekele told The Sports Show after the defeat, “But the Americans performed very well and played very cleanly. We have to look at that again.”
“The result was too loud for our taste.”National coach Harold Cress said, “The team showed a great effort. What was frustrating for me was how little part we played in the game throughout the 60 minutes.”
The USA team is much stronger
Brady Tkachuk (13th), Michael Kesselring (18th), Johnny Gaudreau on the power play (33rd), Luke Hughes (40th), Trevor Zegras (51st) and Michael Essimont (53rd) scored for the Americans, who took revenge in style. interesting. to the semi-final defeat in Tampere.
After winning 4-3 after extra time thanks to Fredrik Tiefels’ winning goal, DEB sensationally reached the final last year. In the preliminary round, the result was 2:3.
With 22 NHL professionals around Tkachuk, Gaudreau and Zegras, the US team is much stronger this year. The Germans’ next opponent on Monday (May 13, 2024, 8:20 p.m.) is 11-time world champion Sweden, who first defeated the Americans 5-2.
Germany is without three world champions
Germany had to do without NHL forward Nico Sturm and defensemen Maximilian Zuber and Fabio Wagner. “We have expectations and hopes that they will be fit again soon.”National coach Harold Kreis said late Saturday night.
Exact injury prognosis or return dates in ice hockey are almost never reported. Chris confirmed the injury, but left open the possibility of one of the trio returning for the Group C match against favorites Sweden on Monday (8:20pm). “We’ll see how the recovery goes“, explained the Canadian. Chris had nominated Maximilian Kastner and Colin Ogbekele.
Storm was already a very important player in last year’s exciting World Cup finals. The NHL pro was also one of the highlights of DEB’s good pick in the opening 6:4 win over Slovakia on Friday. “Every injured player is a loss for us.”Chris said. This is especially true for storms, both on and off the ice. The former DEL coach did not want to dramatize the failures. “It is unusual in a World Cup for all players to play every matchChris said.
NHL forward Lukas Reichel, who only arrived in Ostrava on Friday evening and was on the ice for the first time on Saturday morning, was still sitting in the stands. 21 years old from Chicago Blackhawks He is supposed to participate against Sweden. Joshua Samansky from Straubing had to make way for him.
Niederberger to Grubauer
NHL goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who stopped 35 shots against Slovakia, was given a break. Matthias Niederberger stood next to him between the posts. The Munich player had to defuse the first American goal opportunity a few seconds later. On the other hand, Wojciech Stachowiak was unlucky when he hit the post (7th place). DEB then became braver and put the NHL team in trouble.
However, the USA took the lead: Kesselring’s unstoppable shot was blocked by Tkachuk. At 0-2, Niederberger let down the people in front of them. Alexander Ill (24th) and Ehlys (25th) missed two great opportunities to connect.
The dominant United States of America
The Americans had to replace injured NHL goaltender Alex Lyon with college goaltender Trey Augustine in the second period. They remained more effective on offense: Gaudreau used the first power play to make it 3-0. Sturm was missing from the first three goals conceded: his former attacking line conceded two goals and was also missing from the superior formation. After the first German goal, the score was 1:4 three seconds before the third siren sounded.
At the beginning of the last 20 minutes, the German team revived again. But Team USA quickly regained control.
Latvia avoids embarrassment
Latvia barely avoided embarrassment. Last year’s third-placed side only won in extra time in their first qualifying round match in Germany’s Group B after a long deficit to newly promoted Poland 5:4 (0:1, 1:1, 3:2, 1:0).
On the other hand, Poland wasted its first World Cup win since 1989 when it beat West Germany. Kazakhstan previously beat France 3-1 (2-1, 1-0, 0-0) in Group Two.
The extremely talented Bedard makes a big impression
Super talent Connor Bedard played well in the first set. The NHL’s number one draft pick scored twice in his World Cup debut in Canada’s 4:2 (1:1, 3:0, 0:1) win over Great Britain and gave the defending champion and record world champion the perfect start.
The hosts stay on track. After a difficult start, the Czech Republic beat Norway 6:3 (2:3, 1:0, 3:0) and celebrated its second victory in the second match.
Denmark also confidently won over Austria 5:1 (2:1, 1:0, 2:0). DEL professionals Felix Schell (Bremerhaven), Frederik Sturm (Cologne) and Marcus Lauridsen (Frankfurt) each scored one goal for the Scandinavians.
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