When the nerve game against Austria entered the decisive phase, national ice hockey coach Harold Kreis decided not to play NHL striker John-Jason Peterka. Instead, World Cup debutant Filip Varejcka was given preference.
“We just had the feeling that he couldn’t develop his game like that today,” said the 64-year-old, explaining his decision after the difficult 4-2 win against the relegation contender, “it has nothing to do with an injury.”
The 21-year-old Peterka, who had played a strong rookie season with the Buffalo Sabers, got the most ice time in the first games of the German team and was also the top scorer with two goals. But against the Austrians, the Munich player got bogged down in unsuccessful individual actions, with which he provoked puck losses. In the last third he only came on the ice for 1:51 minutes, a total of only 11:50 minutes of use.
In general, the nominally first formation with Peterka, Marcel Noebels from Berlin and Dominik Kahun, a Swiss legionnaire, was disappointing. “The series is under a lot of pressure,” said Kreis, “we’re trying to defuse that a bit.”
In addition to Stanley Cup winner Nico Sturm, who scored two goals, the fourth line of attack came to the fore. Parker Tuomie from Straubing also entered the list of goalscorers, as did Wojciech Stachowiak, a World Cup newcomer from Ingolstadt, and Justin Schütz from Munich had an assist.
The reward: In the final minutes, the trio was allowed onto the ice to secure victory. “It’s a hard-working series,” praised Kreis, “they work well together, talk to each other a lot, have good chemistry and implement our style of play well. In the end, they made it through these last few minutes with Nico’s series.”