After a hard-fought victory, the German ice hockey women still have the chance to successfully defend their title at the Germany Cup.
National coach Jeff MacLeod’s team won the second game at the tournament in Landshut against Slovakia 3:2 in extra time (1:2, 1:0, 0:0, 1:0). In the decisive third game, the DEB selection will face Hungary on Saturday (2.45 p.m./MagentaSport).
Emily Nix took the lead in the power play (6th), but this was quickly equalized by Nikola Rumanova (7th). Simone Bednarik put the Slovakians in the lead before the third break (20th).
In the second half of the game, Tabea Botthof (33rd) scored the important equalizer with a long-range shot through the legs of teammate Anne Bartsch. After a hard-fought final round without a goal, the game went into extra time, in which Nicola Hadraschek-Eisenschmid made the decision after 90 seconds.
The DEB women had already beaten France 3-2 after a penalty shootout at the start and now have four points. Slovakia (seven points), which clearly lost 1:6 in the last meeting with Germany in February, started the tournament with two wins and scored another point in overtime against the DEB team. MacLeod’s team therefore has to win against Hungary in regular time in order to be able to successfully defend their title. Last year, Germany won the tournament for the first time.
National coach uses tournament for testing
The Germany Cup is the penultimate measure of the women’s selection before the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (February 5th to 22nd). MacLeod takes the opportunity to test players, including 16-year-old Mathilda Heine. Top performers such as the Welcke twins Luisa and Lilli from Boston College or the injured Nina Jobst-Smith from the North American professional league PWHL are missing from the squad.
For the men, the four-nation tournament began on Thursday with a 4-1 win against Latvia. National coach Harold Kreis’ selection will face Austria in the second game on Saturday (6.45 p.m.), and the tournament will end the following day against Slovakia (2.45 p.m./each free at MagentaSport).