A strong defensive performance and the tournament premiere of NHL striker Kahun were not enough. Germany also loses against the USA. It comes to the all-important World Cup group game.
Riga (AP) – After the next disappointment, the emotional memory of the successful Olympic qualification in Riga should lead the German ice hockey team to the same place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
For the preliminary round final against hosts Latvia and the home fans cheering for the first time in the arena on Tuesday (7.15 p.m. / Sport1), the team of national coach Toni Söderholm is hoping for a repeat of 2016. At that time, a 3-2 in front of frenetic spectators in Riga prepared the Road to the 2018 Olympic silver medal.
“We have done it before here in Riga. Now we’re going to do it again ”, announced captain Moritz Müller after the unfortunate 0: 2 (0: 0, 0: 1, 0: 1) against the USA on Monday and stated that he was preparing“ for a battle ”. “I think the boys are happy. It doesn’t matter whether the spectators land from here or from the moon, the boys will be happy that there are simply people in the stadium, ”said Söderholm about the special situation of playing against the Latvians again in front of a maximum of 2660 spectators.
Memories of the Olympic qualification
Almost five years ago, the duel with passionate Latvians was the decisive factor in qualifying for the Olympics. At that time, Tom Kühnhackl scored to win around five minutes before the end. This time too, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation has to win in order to make the minimum goal of the quarter-finals perfect again.
The reason for this is the unnecessary 2-0 draw against the USA on Monday, despite a significant increase in performance compared to the previous defeats against Kazakhstan (3-2) and defending champions Finland (2-1). “The team showed a very, very strong performance”, praised Söderholm despite the bitter third World Cup defeat in a row. “Unfortunately, she didn’t get what she deserved.”
Determining the game but without scoring
For the first time with NHL successor Dominik Kahun from the Edmonton Oilers in the team, Germany was in the game from the start, put the US boys on the defensive, dominated the game for over 60 minutes and in the end had twice as many shots on goal than the favorite. The US team scored the goals. NHL striker Jason Robertson from the Dallas Stars (39th minute) shot the Americans in a much more efficient outnumbered game compared to the German for the 29th win in the 45th World Cup game against Germany. Shortly before the end, Colin Blackwell (60th) hit the empty goal for the US selection, which is now in the knockout round alongside Finland in Group B.
“It would have deserved more than one point today. I think we have to tick the game right away, ”said attacker Marcel Noebels. “We have a final against the hosts. We want to move into the quarter-finals – no question about it. “
Harmless at the front
For this, however, the efficiency in front of the gate must urgently be improved. 9 – 5 – 3 – 2 – 1 – 0: The goal scoring of the German team, which had started well in the tournament, fell rapidly over the course of the tournament. The first two games against the underdogs Italy and Norway. Germany then found it terribly difficult against the better teams. “All in all, we played a good game. Perhaps the last will, the last move to the goal was missing, ”said Müller self-critically.
“A little more aggressiveness in front of the opposing goal. A bit more on the offensive ”, wished national coach Söderholm, who was otherwise very concerned about psychology and positive aspects. “Today’s game showed what the team can really do. Even if it is painful, we can take self-confidence with us for tomorrow, ”said Söderholm, almost defiantly.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210531-99-809885 / 4
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