After a disappointing start to the Ice Hockey World Cup, the DEB team got rid of their frustration against the Hungarians – and at the same time kept their chance of reaching the quarter-finals alive.
A hat trick from Leon Gawanke, the first goal in the power play – and finally the first victory: The German national ice hockey team has solved the first of three compulsory tasks on the way to the World Cup quarter-finals. After four defeats at the start of the tournament, national coach Harold Kreis’ team won 6:2 (2:0, 2:0, 2:2) against outsiders Hungary and thus prevented an early exit.
The Mannheim defender Gawanke, who ended the German majority misery with his first goal in the twelfth attempt, stood out from a dominant team with a hat-trick (19th/42nd/50th). Berlin’s Eric Mik (9th), NHL striker Lukas Reichel (40th) and Nuremberg World Cup debutant Samuel Dove-McFalls (40th) scored the further goals for the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) in front of 5,000 spectators in Zurich, who kept their chance of advancing. Tamas Sarpatki (45th) and Janos Hari (58th) scored the Hungarians’ goals, with the previously strong NHL goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer not looking good in the short corner in the first.
The expected “final” for the quarter-finals will take place on Saturday against Austria. With a win against their neighbors and another success at the end of the preliminary round on Monday (both 8.20 p.m./ProSieben and MagentaTV) against previously overwhelmed newcomers Great Britain, the chances of reaching the knockout round would be good, but the DEB selection also needs help.
“We knew before the tournament that the last three games were the ones we had to win,” said defender Leon Hüttl before the game on MagentaTV: “We want to be the more active team in every game and play our game.”
Kreis decided not to accept Alexander Karachun, who was subsequently nominated. The Schwenninger replaces the future Cologne player Daniel Fischbuch in the German squad, who left with a broken hand. Grubauer was somewhat surprisingly in goal, even though the “final” against Austria was already 24 hours later.
Double blow after a nervous start
The DEB selection started nervously, the first power game, the eleventh in the tournament, was unsuccessful as usual. But shortly afterwards Mik scored with a shot from the blue line, and Nicolas Krämmer blocked the view of the Hungarian goalie Bence Balizs in front of the goal.
With the lead, calm returned to the German game; the district team repeatedly restricted the Hungarians in their own third. However, there were hardly any chances to score. The knot broke in the twelfth power play: Gawanke scored after Stefan Loibl failed to get the puck under control.
“That’s what we were missing. We know that, we addressed that,” said Krämmer after the first third. There shouldn’t have been a penalty for the Hungarians because Fabio Wagner hit Marc Michaelis in the face with his bat.
The dominance continued in the second half, with Hungary barely able to break free. The only drawback: the DEB team didn’t take advantage of its chances. Only shortly before the end of the third did Reichel increase the score with his 18th shot on goal in the second half. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on the opponent’s goal today,” said striker Alexander Ehl.
Gawanke added shortly after the start of the final third. The German team slowed down a bit, then the Hungarians prevented Grubauer’s second World Cup shutout. Another goal was disallowed after a challenge from the German coaching team. Grubauer was disabled. Then Gawanke completed his hat trick from a tight angle.
