To be able to keep up against the big players, yes, to have pushed one of these big players to the brink of defeat: That was the positive news that the German ice hockey players distilled from their 0-1 defeat against Sweden at the start of the World Cup on Friday. “We showed the Swedes from the start how hard we work,” said NHL forward John-Jason Peterka. After a dominant first third, they had come under pressure in the second period, had recovered from an early goal in the third – and ended up with little more than good intentions for the second game on Saturday against World Cup hosts and defending champions Finland. “The players are of course frustrated,” said national coach Harold Kreis. “A lot invested, a lot done. Only the goals were missing. But overall the performance and commitment are a very good guide.”
This inner compass did not lead to the goal, at least on Saturday. After a convincing performance over long stretches, the German team also lost the second group game at this World Cup 3:4 (1:1, 2:2, 0:1). The DEB team had pushed the next favorite to the brink of defeat, only a small nudge was missing.
At their second home World Championship in a row – Tampere stepped in because the World Federation IIHF withdrew Russia’s right to host it – the Finns feel enormous pressure. The ice hockey enthusiasm in the country of five million is enormous, in the streets and on the squares of Tampere leijonat ubiquitous, many people wear national team shirts, even those who cannot afford tickets; Tickets for games of the Finnish team are available from 90 euros and up.
The 4-1 draw against the USA left a horrified home crowd behind. Striker Mikko Rantanen sounded correspondingly guilty: “We were sleepy and didn’t walk enough. We have to find our legs.” Finland’s sole goalscorer Teemu Hartikainen followed up with a promise that sounded like a warning to the Germans: “You’ll see a much hungrier team on Saturday.” DEB captain Moritz Müller also harbored this suspicion: “I expect Finns who will come out very hot. They try to make up for something straight away. We have to stay cool, keep a cool head, even with the scenery.”
The Finns came out of the dressing room hard
Of course, the arena in Tampere, site of Finland’s triumph over Canada last year, was sold out on Saturday night, 11,700 spectators, high prices or not. And the Finns, as they say in hockey-speak, came out of the dressing room hard. For a breathless four minutes, the Germans were mainly busy making changes in an orderly manner, there was no time for an orderly build-up of the game. Ironically, a penalty against Marcel Noebels then opened up the best chance so far, but Dominik Kahun was denied by goalkeeper Jussi Olkinuora.
Harold Kreis started with the same line-up as the day before, with one exception: After his strong performance against Sweden, goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger got a break on Saturday, Wolfsburg’s Dustin Strahlmeier came on for him for the second World Cup appearance of his career. And it began just as unluckily for the native of Gelsenkirchen as FC Schalke’s 6-0 defeat in Munich: a shot by Joel Armia slipped the 30-year-old between the pad and the catcher’s hand to make it 0-1 (10th minute). “I just have to hold one more, then the number looks different,” said Strahlmeier later.
The Germans had recently had good experiences with the four-time world champion and current Olympic champion. In 2021, the DEB team under Toni Söderholm lost to the Finns in the semifinals after a big fight 1: 2, in 2019 they defeated them 4: 2 in the group phase, including two goals from Leon Draisaitl.
This time they found their way into the game, albeit via detours. A double deflected shot released both teams with a 1:1 in the first break, sender: Marcel Noebels (18th).
The second third began like the first, with Finland immediately looking for the shortest route to the goal. But the 1-1 had solved the deadlock among the Germans. The audience liked it, it sent the wave through the hall. Less liked were two penalties in a row against coach Jukka Jalonen’s team, which admittedly went nowhere; but as soon as the second was over, Kai Wissmann fired the puck from the blue line to the German lead in the corner (33rd), which Nico Sturm could have expanded shortly afterwards. His shot grazed the crossbar. Sakari Manninen, Finland’s golden shooter in the ’22 final, aimed all the more precisely, scoring in the 35th minute to make it 2-2 and 1:47 minutes later on the power play to make it 3-2. game turned again.
This time Kasperi could have raised Kapanen but, like Sturm, hit the post. And now the Germans immediately equalized again: 19 seconds before the end of the third, Peterka made it 3:3, easily out of the blue. The game turned into a spectacle.
The prospect of a veritable false start nagged the Finns, who, despite twice as many shots on goal when Moritz Müller hit the crossbar, had luck and had to endure another situation with a man down before Mikko Lehtonen, who converted a rebound, brought them redemption (53′).
“Zero points are zero points,” Dominik Kahun said after the opening game against Sweden. Nothing will change until Monday’s game against the USA.