After a perfect start, the German national team collected the first damper at the Ice Hockey World Cup. Switzerland clearly defeated the DEB team 5: 1 (0: 0, 4: 0, 1: 1), the second third became a disaster for the team of national coach Harold Kreis.
After a rather highlight of the first round, in which Germany’s goalie Mathias Niederberger saved his team with 14 parades from an even earlier deficit, all dams broke in the second 20 minutes. In the 25th minute, Niederberger parried again heavily against Ken Jäger, but then Damien Riat defeated the Deb goalkeeper. Only seconds later, Sven Andrighetto then increased from a short distance to 2: 0 (26th).
Kreis demands the video evidence twice – and that has consequences
Switzerland stayed on the pusher and hit 3-0 (27th) after a counterattack – but Kreis tried a challenge and was successful, there was a narrow offside position, the goal was not. In the second call of this kind, the national coach was not successful, which was punished twice.
After a goal from Andrighetto, the circle complained back to offside, but the video review showed that the gate was regular (34th). In addition to the 3-0, this meant that Germany had to play outnumbered because an unsuccessful challenge was seen as a delay. And this was used by Switzerland in an outstanding manner, Andrighetto surprised Niederberger in the short corner and scored the fourth goal of the Confederates in the second third (36th).
| Game day | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
1 | Hungary | 6: 1 |
2 | Kazakhstan | 4: 1 |
3 | Norway | 5: 2 |
4 | Switzerland | 0: 5 |
5 | USA | |
6 | Czech Republic | |
7 | Denmark |
Afterwards, Germany had top chances from Tim Stützle, who failed due to the strong Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni (36th), and Yasin Ehliz, who was no longer able to control the puck shortly before the opposing goal (38.), but it remained in the clear deficit before the final third.
Switzerland further impressive – Germany now against the USA
Switzerland had impressively demonstrated its qualities before the game against the DEB team and clearly defeated co-favorite USA 3-0. Against Germany, Genoni, which also brought to despair in the 42nd minute, remained without a goal. Jonas Müller scored the German honor goal in the 59th minute, and Andrighetto had previously met a fourth time (49.).
Due to the clear victory, the Swiss took second place in group B and displaced Germany. In the evening, the Czech Republic can pass on both teams with a win against Hungary (8:20 p.m.), on the first match day the Czechs defeated Switzerland to Overtime. For Germany, the USA continues on Saturday (May 17, 2025, 12.20 p.m.).