Germany lost in the fifth group game to reigning ice hockey world champion Finland 1:2 (0:1, 1:0, 0:1) and slipped to fourth place in the preliminary round group B.
It was a highly intense duel, and for the German team to three Victories, the second defeat in a row.
National coach Toni Söderholm had to do without attacker Lukas Reichel against his home country, who dropped out of the 2:3 against Kazakhstan after a check against his head. After two days without playing, the DEB selection had a hard time getting back into their rhythm. The first penalty time, which Moritz Seider conceded, brought an early arrears: Only eight seconds outnumbered the Finns by Anton Lundell to the lead (7.).
In the second third, the DEB selection increased, but the equalizer was surprising: Stefan Loibl put the puck back, Korbinian Holzer scored his second tournament goal from a covert point of view.
In the final third, the German team survived another outnumbered situation, because the players blocked numerous shots, as in the 3-1 win against Canada-especially Tom Kühnhackl. A late counterattack brought Finland back into the lead: Lundell played Reijo Routsalainen free, who moved in effortlessly (52.).
In all likelihood, the German team will need a win from the last two group games on Monday (15:15) against the USA and on Tuesday (19:15/both Sport1) against host Latvia to progress.
