With their first victory at the Olympic Games in 16 years, the German national ice hockey team has raised hopes for the quarter-finals in Pyeongchang. The team of national coach Marco Sturm defeated Norway 2:1 (0:0,1:0,0:1,0:1,0:0,1:0,1:0) after penalty shooting and secured third place in Group C. The opponent in the knockout match on Tuesday for the final eight is only determined after the remaining games of the day.
With the first goal after 111 minutes, Patrick Hager from Munich broke the spell (33rd) in the Gangneung Hockey Centre. Alexander Reichenberg equalled (46th) before Hager made the sixth victory in the sixth Olympic duel with Norway perfect in the penalty shootout – and his first win at winter games since his 4-1 win over Latvia in the 2002 preliminary round at Salt Lake City. After that, the selection of the DEB had not won 16 games in a row.
“That was hard work. I’m glad the boys have been rewarded for their hard work. They did a great job,”said Sturm on ZDF:”Now we have a day off, then we’ll look further.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Sturm had put Danny from the birch trees between the posts again. At 2-5 in the opening match against Finland, the Munich player had to play a 33rd place in the first match against Finland. Only 15 out of 20 goal shots fended off and no security broadcasted. On the other hand, Timo Pielmeier from Ingolstadt, Germany, had won against the world champion Sweden in an unfortunate 1-0 defeat with numerous strong parades.
In addition, the national coach had to change over at short notice. Patrick Reimer from Nuremberg, the DEL’s record scorer with 318 goals, had to pass injured. His club-mate Leonhard Pföderl joined the team for him.
After a hectic start, the German team was boosted by the double Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger, among others. Nuremberg’s Yasin Ehliz did not hit the puck correctly in a promising position (6th). After a first powerplay with only one shot on goal, the second game was much more structured.
The best chance in the first period was the Munich-based Frank Mauer, who, after a long pass from Berlin defender Frank Hördler, failed due to goalkeeper Lars Haugen (18.). The birchwoods in the German goal only got work at the end of the first section, before that the Norwegians had planned to destroy the game of the DEB selection.
At the beginning of the second period, however, they exaggerated it: Tommy Kristiansen struck down defender Sinan Akdag with a check against the head, the man from Mannheim had to go into the cabin – as did the Norwegian, who was fined for playing time (23rd). In the following five-minute powerplay, Sturm’s team was unlucky: David Wolf hit the post (26th).
After a clever pass from Dominik Kahun, Hager shovelled the disc into the net. Because the Norwegians gave up their destructive way of playing, birch trees also got more to do. His best deed: Mats Rosseli Olsen’s single-handed approach kept him calm and prevented him from equalising (40th). Six minutes later, he was powerless.