Strong second third decides
In front of 4,387 spectators in the hall, which was more than half full, the second third was decisive. With three points from the difficult first World Cup weekend with the games against Canada (3:5) and Slovakia, they created a good starting position for the supposedly decisive tasks for progression.
Unlike against Canada, the Germans avoided going behind this time. However, they didn’t use a manpower situation carelessly made possible by the Slovaks at the end of the first third, nor did they use a power play in the second period, when they even had two more players on the ice for more than a minute.
Tension in the last third
The lead resulted from a strong individual performance by Plachta: the experienced player stormed into the offensive zone at great speed, the puck bounced off a Slovak into the goal. Despite the interim two-goal lead thanks to the interaction of the two Berliners Marcel Noebels and Pföderl, things quickly got exciting again: Grubauer was able to parry at first, but then let Pospisil, who came from behind the goal, overcome him.
At the end of the second third, the Germans came under pressure – but withstood it and survived a 3:5 deficit at the beginning of the final section. With morale, the Olympic tenth brought victory over time.
The German team continues on Monday (May 16, 2022) from 7.20 p.m. with the game against France.
Source: sid/dpa