With a promising squad, national ice hockey coach Harold Kreis suffered a defeat in the first of two international matches against hosts Slovakia.
In Zvolen, the selection of the vice world champions lost 2:5 (0:0, 1:0, 1:5) after a weak final third. The second duel takes place at the same location on Thursday (6:00 p.m./free at MagentaSport).
Jan Nijenhuis from ERC Ingolstadt scored two goals on his debut in the senior team of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) to give them a 2-0 lead (19th, 46th), then the Slovaks hit back – with five good goals 13 minutes.
Kreis had to restructure its squad at short notice. Four players from the 24-man squad canceled their participation. Striker Alexander Blank (Düsseldorfer EG) moved into the squad for Filip Varecka (Red Bull Munich).
Defenders Nico Appendino (Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven), Colin Ugbekile (Iserlohn Roosters) and Mario Zimmermann (Straubing Tigers) were replaced by Arkadiusz Dziambor (Schwenninger Wild Wings), Philipp Preto (Bremerhaven) and Moritz Wirth (Düsseldorf).