ice Hockey
5:3 against Austria: DEB men before Germany Cup victory
The DEB men prevailed against Austria after falling behind. photo
© Christian Kolbert/dpa
National coach Harold Kreis changes his team again for their second appearance at the Germany Cup. The DEB selection only gets going late, but then really.
After a strong third third, the DEB selection defeated Austria 5:3 (0:1, 1:1, 4:1). On Sunday (2.30 p.m./Magentasport), national coach Harold Kreis’ team still needs a win against Slovakia to win the tournament in Landshut.
Compared to the 4-1 opening win against the Danes, Coach Kreis continued to experiment against Austria. Former NHL professional Tobias Rieder has already returned to his Swedish club Växjö Lakers. The top performers Manuel Wiederer, Leonhard Pföderl (both Eisbären Berlin) and Maximilian Kammerer (Kölner Haie) also got a break. “I could have nominated two teams,” said the 64-year-old about the large number of quality players.
DEB selection doesn’t get going at first
However, the performance density of the DEB selection was not visible for over 40 minutes against the Austrians, who were clearly defeated by Slovakia 1:7 in the first match. The newly formed team was initially lucky when the Austrians hit the post. A short time later, Benjamin Baumgartner from the Swiss club SC Bern gave the guests the lead with a shot directly under the crossbar from national goalkeeper Leon Hungerecker (10th).
The goalie from the Nuremberg Ice Tigers, who started for Arno Tiefensee (Adler Mannheim), who was so convincing against Denmark, saved his team from conceding a second goal just a few minutes later. In the goalkeeper position, Kreis has five to six goalkeepers at a high level. “We have a good basis,” explained the national coach.
However, Hungerecker was defeated again in the second third. Baumgartner beat the German goalie again with a hard shot (28th).
The district team seemed a little under the weather. Austria was still the team with the better opportunities. The connection came somewhat surprisingly: Yasin Ehliz from Munich served Michaelis. The striker, who works for EV Zug in Switzerland, had no problems shooting the puck into the empty goal (32′).
Goal gives DEB team self-confidence
Michaelis is one of the professionals that Kreis wanted to test again at the Germany Cup. The 28-year-old was unable to take part in the World Cup silver medal in Tampere and has to prove himself again.
The goal not only gave Michaelis new self-confidence. Cheered on by 4,200 spectators in Landshut, the DEB selection played much more aggressively and failed several times until the end of the second round due to Austria keeper Florian Vorauer.
The goalkeeper was once again powerless against a well-placed attempt by Michaelis: the striker scored to make it 2-2 (44′). Just 33 seconds later, Germany had completely turned the game around. Vice world champion Filip Varejcka from EHC Red Bull Munich and his team colleague Ehliz increased the score to 4:2 for a German team that was playing furiously in this phase. Baumgartner reduced the score to 3:4 with his third goal (53′). Shortly before the end, Daniel Pfaffengut made the final score 5:3.