Two crossbars, two posts, no goal: the German national ice hockey team lost its second game at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang with a lot of kicker.
One day after the 2:5 defeat of Finland, Germany coach Marco Sturm’s much-improved team lost 0:1 (0:1,0:0,0:0,0:0) to the world champion and gold candidate Sweden.
“We’re a bit frustrated at the moment,”said seasoned veteran Christian Ehrhoff in an interview with ZDF television station,”but that’s what professional sport is all about, where centimetres decide victory or defeat,” Viktor Stalberg (2nd) scored the goal for Sweden at the Kwandong Hockey Centre, the Olympic champion of 1994 and 2006.
For the German team, the final preliminary round game on Sunday (12.10 a. m. OZ/4.10 CET) against Norway is about third place in Group C and thus a good starting position for the knockout match for the quarter-finals on Tuesday,”Now we have a final,”said Ehrhoff fiercely. Sweden, with only five players left from last year’s World Cup triumph in Cologne, has the best chance of qualifying for the final eight after two victories.
The kick-off was a reflection of the first game: Felix Schütz from Cologne had his first big chance, but failed only because of goalkeeper Jhonas Enroth – in return, Stalberg, pressed by two German defenders, put the puck in the corner. Timo Pielmeier was powerless. The man from Ingolstadt replaced Munich’s master goalie Danny from the birch trees, who had only fought off 15 out of 20 shots against Finland.
Pielmeier, who has not yet gone beyond a role as a reserveist at major tournaments, made his Olympic debut, as did Mannheim defender Sinan Akdag and Munich striker Frank Mauer. The two of them joined the team for Jonas Müller from Berlin and Leonhard Pföderl from Nuremberg. Its 150. Allrounder Yannic Seidenberg, the Munich player, played in defence again.
However, the early conceding goal did not shock the DEB team. She came into the match better by the minute. At the first powerplay Dominik Kahun was unlucky when he hit the post (12th). After that, the German team continued to be equal – but like Finland, the shots were too imprecise.
This trend continued in the middle section. Sturm’s team not only offered the favourite a great fight, but also played along. As requested by the national coach, the strikers also frequently positioned themselves directly in front of the goal. The defender Moritz Müller from Cologne hit the bar again by a large margin (27.). The same happened to Kahun, who with his shot at the poles just barely missed the meanwhile deserved equalisation (38.). Thus, 70 seconds with five against three remained without any real success. In the final period, Schütz hit the post (47th).