Debacle against Slovakia: Crashing Olympics for Germany's ice hockey cracks

Created: 02/15/2022, 10:51 am

By: Alexander Kaindl

It was about the last ticket for the Olympic quarterfinals.

Germany needed a win against Slovakia - it became a hockey debacle.

The game to read in the ticker.

Germany 0-4 Slovakia (0-1; 0-2, 0-1)

60 minutes:

Let's summarize: Germany showed far too little bite here, conceded a sensitive bankruptcy and is therefore eliminated.

Slovakia didn't play the stars from the sky here, but were ultimately far too mature for the DEB selection.

The Söderholm squad has to swallow that first.

Germany's Olympic dream has burst!

59 minutes:

Germany says goodbye to the tournament with a clear bankruptcy.

David Wolf then distributes again cleanly, the frustration runs deep.

58 minutes:

Germany throws everything forward, has six field players on the ice.

The Germans are now looking for Matthias Plachta again and again.

And then the blow in the neck!

4-0 for Slovakia.

Marek Hrivík does it.

57 minutes:

Three minutes left, Toni Söderholm takes the time-out.

56 minutes:

Time is running out.

Germany complete again.

Niederberger goes off the ice.

55 minutes:

Samuel Takáč with the next shot and Niederberger again!

hotshot!

The German goalie prevents an even bigger bankruptcy here.

54 minutes:

Save Niederberger!

Again kept great.

Shortly thereafter, Dominik Bittner received a two-minute time penalty.

Germany misses too many chances against Slovakia

52 minutes:

And the DEB team has the next majority, a cross check from Miloš Kelemen.

Now or never!

Niederberger has to fend off the first Slovakian counterattack.

Kahun then has the first opportunity, but the shot misses.

Rybár then parried a one-timer from Plachta.

Pföderl tries again - but he fails too!

The Slovaks also survive this outnumbered and are complete again.

51 minutes:

The Slovaks let the Germans do it now, waiting for a counterattack.

50 minutes:

A shot by Korbi Holzer!

The Germans are finally showing the will that we have been missing here for 50 minutes.

49 minutes:

Slovakia is complete again.

48 minutes:

Plachta and Kahun keep trying, but Slovakia defends itself against the German power play.

47 minutes:

That can't be true!

The Slovaks win the target with a man down, taking time off the clock.

Symptomatic.

46 minutes:

Germany now outnumbered, Martin Gernat hits Leonhard Pföderl with a stick.

The DEB team has one more man on the ice - something has to happen in the next two minutes!

45 minutes:

Matthias Plachta tries the pawn trick!

And it was almost 1: 3, Dominik Kahun then missed the deflected disc at the far post.

Good chance for Germany!

That's how it works!

43 minutes:

Germany's game forward is simply too imprecise, and the last clean pass is always missing.

This time Yasin Ehliz is caught early.

After that, Moritz Müller tests Patrik Rybár, but that's not a problem for the Slovakian goalkeeper.

42 minutes:

Germany needs an offensive firework, as before, you have only given ten shots on goal.

This is too little!

The Slovaks are at 24, Niederberger has to grab again.

Germany against Slovakia with their backs to the wall: the Olympics are threatened - the third third is running

41 minutes:

Pack it up!

The last third is running.

Germany needs an ice hockey miracle.

40 minutes:

Niederberger is back!

Shortly before the siren, the Slovaks have another huge chance, but the German goalie parries.

Pause, take a deep breath.

And then attack again, boys!

38 minutes:

Germany has caught.

That was a huge pressure wave from the Slovaks a few minutes ago, the 4:0 would have been long overdue here.

But the Olympic dream of the DEB selection is still alive - but it now takes a splendid 22 minutes.

37 minutes:

The Germans now have another chance, but Leonhard Pföderl finds his master in Patrik Rybár.

34 minutes:

Chances every minute for Slovakia, Germany is really presented here!

Nothing works anymore!

The DEB selection is completely unsettled.

Shots on goal: 19 to 8 for the Slovaks.

31st Minute:

If Germany doesn't flip the switch here right away, then the Olympic dream has burst.

Germany - Slovakia NOW live: debacle for DEB selection

29 minutes:

Germany falls apart!

The Slovaks do what they want here - Michal Krištof with the 3-0.

28 minutes:

And that just can't happen!

Germany is in the majority, after a few seconds Matthias Plachta loses the disc and then slides into his opponent.

Two minutes again - and Slovakia punishes it within 15 seconds!

0:2!

They play it wonderfully, cross pass in front of the goal and Peter Cehlárik is there.

28 minutes:

High stick, two-minute penalty - Mislav Rosandič serves the first Slovakian minutes.

27 minutes:

Good chance for Germany!

But Yasin Ehliz fails because of Patrik Rybár.

26 minutes:

Free target in front of the German goal!

Phew, lucky again for the DEB team.

That's still not enough of Germany here.

24 minutes:

Germany complete again, survived the second deficit.

23 minutes:

Germany defends the Slovakian power play well, keeping the disc well away from their own goal.

22nd Minute:

Change error Germany!

Too many men on the ice, that's annoying.

Frederik Tiffels serves the two minutes.

21 minutes:

Let's continue!

Germany puts itself in the forward gear, but Dominik Kahun just fails.

The Slovaks counter directly, but no danger for the DEB box.

Cheerful start here in the second third!

20 minutes:

And break!

That's not the yolk of the egg yet.

Germany is behind and has to improve enormously in order to avert the end of the Olympics here.

18 minutes:

Slafkovský finishes, but Niederberger is there!

Germany complete again.

17 minutes:

Slovakian power play now.

And they are looking for their 17-year-old child prodigy: Juraj Slafkovský.

The German defense still holds.

16 minutes:

First time penalty for Germany, David Wolf has to cool down for two minutes because he tripped.

13 minutes:

What is the German answer?

Nico Krämmer is the most conspicuous player on the German offensive, he is back in the limelight here.

But the Slovak defense is stable.

In return, a huge opportunity!

Two Slovaks are completely blank in front of the German goal.

The DEB selection is lucky again.

Germany - Slovakia: Fight for the Olympic quarterfinals, DEB team is behind

12 minutes:

And that's when it happened!

Long-range shot by Libor Hudáček, the disc is deflected three times and tumbles into the German goal.

Is that bitter!

But Slovakia is not undeservedly leading here.

11 minutes:

The DEB selection has caught itself, Konrad Abeltshauser is now making a mark.

Good check against Slovak captain Marek Hrivík.

9 minutes:

First chance for Germany!

Suddenly Nico Krämmer is free, but he fails at the Slovakian goalkeeper Patrik Rybár.

8 minutes:

Stefan Loibl now wins one or two face-offs, but the Germans still haven't managed to get a shot on target here.

Meanwhile, Zuzin checks our goalie the next time, but Niederberger is there again!

6 minutes:

take a deep breath!

So important, this save by Niederberger.

Germany is shaking, has to find its way back here.

4 minutes:

Really intense match here.

Now the Slovaks come in front of the German goal for the first time, but Mathias Niederberger deflects Peter Zuzin's shot.

Hey, he can't come to the end that freely!

That was a huge chance, actually it has to be the lead for Slovakia.

2 minutes:

Germany is awake, goes straight to it.

Coach Toni Söderholm's team knows what's at stake today.

+++ Here we go!

Update from February 15, 5:05 a.m .:

It starts right here!

What are the German cracks showing us here?

We are curious.

Germany - Slovakia NOW live: Ice hockey dream at the Olympics before the end?

"I'll rip your head off"

First report from February 14, 10:15 p.m .:

Beijing – Germany can continue to dream of its Olympic dream – but waking up is possible at any time.

After the 3-2 defeat against the USA, the playoffs for the quarter-finals are now on Tuesday.

The DEB selection then has to play against Slovakia, it starts at 5.10 a.m.

Only a win counts - with another bankruptcy, the team of national coach Toni Söderholm is finally eliminated.

After all: The performance against the Americans gives a little hope.

Although the game was narrowly lost, there was finally a rebellion to be seen.

And to hear too.

Would you like an example?

In the meantime, Korbinian Holzer had briefly forgotten his good upbringing.

"Damn son of a bitch," yelled the national ice hockey player, "I'll rip your head off." Everyone at the sparsely populated Wukesong Sports Center in Beijing could hear every single English word loud and clear.

The verbal attack was actually addressed to an American, but above all to his own team: "Emotions - that's exactly what makes our game special."

Germany - Slovakia: Ice hockey team fights for the Olympic quarterfinals

Just in time for the decisive phase in the fight for the Olympic medals, the German players rediscovered the emotionality that carried them to the silver miracle in Pyeongchang four years ago.

"Passion always comes first for us," said Holzer after the 2:3 win against the USA - the best performance in the tournament to date.

That's exactly what will matter against Slovakia.

"We arrived emotionally," Söderholm also emphasized. Four years ago, in this first knockout round, the sensational rush to the Olympic final began - with a hard-fought, nerve-wracking 2-1 win against Switzerland after extra time.

A goal on the other side - and the ice hockey winter fairy tale in South Korea would never have been written.

"Everyone is fighting and scratching," said striker Patrick Hager, one of the ten remaining silver heroes in the team, "we have to be there to the point.

It's not about winning a play-off series, it's a game.” What happened in the preliminary round, which got off to a rocky start, is no longer of interest.

The decisive factor is which team has found itself in the short amount of time and got used to the smaller ice surface with NHL dimensions.

"We now really understand how we have to play on it," said captain Moritz Müller, "straight forward."

Olympia: German ice hockey team has to play against Slovakia – live ticker for the quarter-final playoffs

The North Americans, who are used to the four meter narrower playing field from an early age, showed how it works best.

"The Canadians drove over us at the beginning," admitted Müller, looking at the 1:5 at the start of the tournament.

The US team also played without frills, fast and hard.

"It's a different kind of hockey," said Hager.

Except for 2010, when Vancouver was played in an NHL arena, the ice surface at the Olympics has always been wider.

"You have to make the right decisions 99.9 percent of the time on small ice, otherwise you will be punished quickly," explained Holzer, who himself played in North America for ten years, "every shot is a good shot."

Söderholm wants to see as many of them as possible.

The national coach pays close attention to his players' playing times because he has a clear schedule: "Hopefully we'll play on the 15th, 16th, 18th and 20th," he said.

The final is in Beijing on the 20th, "You need strength for that." And emotions.