Germany and Switzerland met on Tuesday in Helsinki to fight for group victory in group A. A thrilling game had to be decided in a shootout. Sunk the decisive penalty shot to make it 4:3 nP Nico Hischier directly as the first shooter. The Nati finished unbeaten in first place and will meet Slovakia in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Germany secured second place in this World Cup format for the first time and will play the Czech Republic in the round of eight.
Germany – Switzerland 3:4 nP
National coach Toni Söderholm brought NHL goalkeeper Phillip Grubauer (Seattle Kraken) and forward Matthias Plachta instead of Dustin Strahlmeier and Dominik Bittner. With defender Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings) Germany had a second NHLer in the squad.
Swiss coach Patrick Fischer made three changes to his line-up: Leonardo Genoni (backup), Christian Marti (defense) and Tristan Schwerwey (attacker) were preferred to Sandro Aeschlimann, Andrea Glauser and Calvin Thürkauf. Also stood with Dean Kukan (Columbus Blue Jackets), JJ Moser (Arizona Coyotes), Jonas Siegenthaler, Nico Hischier (both New Jersey Devils), Philip Kurashev (Chicago Blackhawks), Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks) and Pius Suter (Detroit Red Wings) has seven NHL exports in the squad.
The Nati, feared for their lightning-fast switching game, was successful after just 97 seconds: Enzo Corvi put down the right wing for Andres Ambühl, who made it 1-0 with a slap shot into the right angle (2nd).
After that, however, the Germans adjusted to this Swiss specialty, prevented the Swiss from breaking out quickly with two forecheckers and worked their way into this game physically with many checks.
When Team Germany was allowed to send the hitherto successful power play onto the ice for the first time, the doorbell rang after just four seconds: Lukas Reichel (Rockford IceHogs, Chicago Blackhawks farm team) won the faceoff in the offensive zone, defender Kai Wissmann had space and thundered a slap shot 1:1 in the left bend (12th).
Germany got better and better, dominated the game since the equalizer, fought for good chances and took the lead in line with performance: Stefan Loibl deflected a shot from Seider with the inside of his leg to make it 2-1 (16 ‘).
In the second third, Switzerland presented itself significantly improved and got off to a strong start again: 86 seconds after the restart, Suter scored to make it 2-2 (22nd).
In the aftermath, the Nati repeatedly demonstrated speed and playing strength and had longer pressure phases in the offensive third, in which Grubauer was able to shine with great saves. Now and then the Germans relieved the pressure with counter-attacks, which certainly evoked danger.
Shortly before the second break, the Swiss turned the game around in a power play: first Meier hit the right post (38′), then Denis Malgin was looked for in the left face-off circle and fired a direct slap shot to make it 3-2 into the right corner of the cross (39′). ).
In the third third, Germany held back well from the puck drop. Meanwhile, the game became more and more physical and emotional. It went back and forth quite quickly.
An irresistible individual action by Matthias Plachta equalized: the winger danced between two Swiss defenders during his solo and scored with his backhand to make it 3:3 – a dream goal (48th)!
The game between the two neighboring countries and rivals remained extremely exciting, especially since the urge phases alternated. The Nati had the better chances, however, but failed again and again due to brilliant saves by DEB goalkeeper Grubauer. It went into overtime. So it was clear that Switzerland would finish first and Germany second in Group A for the first time ever. Both nations will continue to compete in Helsinki in the quarter-finals.
In overtime, both teams had good chances, but Germany’s Yasin Ehliz had the best chance, who failed in front of Reto Berra with a backhand tunnel attempt (63′).
So a decision had to be made in a penalty shootout. Here Berra stopped all attempts of the Germans. For Switzerland, Hischier converted directly as the first shooter after skilfully delaying. Damien Riat, who first faked and then hit the right angle, was also successful as a second player.
Other games on Tuesday:
Group A
Slovakia – Denmark 7:1
Slovakia beat Denmark 7-1 in Helsinki in the afternoon, overtaking Denmark in the table and knocking them out of the quarter-finals. A double pack of Tomas Tatar (New Jersey Devils, 11th, 20th) put the Slovaks on the road to victory. Pavel Regenda (22nd, on the power play), Mislav Rosandic (33rd) and the draft-eligible top talent Juraj Slafkovsky (39th) expanded this to 5-0. Only in the final third did the Danes score a consolation goal through Joachim Blichfeld (San Jose Sharks, 48th). Shortly before the end, Simon Nemec, the next draft-eligible top talent for Slovakia, scored (59th). Pavol Regenda even increased the final score to 7:1 (60th). This ended the ice hockey career of Denmark’s longtime NHLer Frans Nielsen (38, 925 NHL games for the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, 167-306-473) with a loss in the World Cup preliminary round. Nielsen had previously won the DEL championship with the Eisbären Berlin.
Canada – France 7:1
Canada defeated France 7-1 in Helsinki to take third place. They now meet Sweden in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The win was a welcome relief for last year’s gold medalists. After winning their first four games, they suffered surprising defeats against Switzerland and Denmark. Canada’s attack was by Drake Batherson led, who contributed four assists. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two goals and one assist, and Dylan Cozens contributed a goal and two assists.
Group B
Sweden 1-0 Latvia
In Group B in Tampere, Sweden beat Latvia 1-0. It came to a duel between two NHL goalies: Swede Linus Ullmark (Boston Bruins) vs Arturs Silovs (Vancouver Canucks) of Latvia. Both goalkeepers were on zero for a long time, but then the Tre Kronor struck on the power play: William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) put the Scandinavians ahead (35′). It should remain the only goal in this comparison. As a result, Latvia failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
USA – Norway 4:2
The USA qualified for the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win over Norway in Tampere. Ryan Hartman (Minnesota Wild, 4th) and Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild, 8th) gave the United States a 2-0 lead. After that it was back and forth: Norway scored through Andreas Martinsen (23′), then the US boys cheered through again Ben Meyers (Colorado Avalanche, 29th) and finally Daniel Rokseth brought the Norwegians back to 2:3 (42nd). The game remained open until shortly before the end, only in the final minute Sean Farrell made the decision with an empty netter (60th).
Finland – Czech Republic 3-0
Finland completed an impressive Group B preliminary round with a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in Tampere. Tuesday’s win secured Jukka Jalonen’s side first place and a place in the quarter-finals against Slovakia on Thursday. Joel Armia and Sakari Manninen got the game going in the first period before Toni Rajala extended the lead in the second period. On the other hand, Jussi Olkinuora provided Finland’s fourth shutout in seven games. It is now 198 minutes and 27 seconds since the Finns last conceded a goal. Olkinuora was voted Finnish player of the match and received a lot of applause from the Tampere crowd. The 31-year-old started his career as a junior with Tappara, where he played for the under-16 side in the 2005/06 season.
Quarterfinal pairings on Thursday:
Germany (2A) – Czech Republic (3B), 15.20 CEST in Helsinki
Sweden (2B) – Canada (3A), 15:20 CEST in Tampere
Switzerland (1A) – USA (4B), 19.20 CEST in Helsinki
Finland (1B) – Slovakia (4A), 19:20 CEST in Tampere