Despite a strong debut by Stanley Cup winner Nico Sturm, the German national ice hockey team suffered their third defeat in four games in preparation for the World Cup. In Landshut, the team of the new national coach Harold Kreis lost against Austria in a heated duel after a penalty shootout with 2:3 (1:1, 0:1, 1:0, 0:0, 0:1). The 27-year-old NHL pro Sturm scored one goal and provided one assist.
However, the native of Augsburg was not used after a heavy blow from the Austrian Manuel Ganahl from the middle of the third period. The San Jose Sharks professional, who traveled to Germany from the USA on Wednesday, had previously made it 2-2 in the 41st minute, preparing the first DEB goal by Maximilian Kammerer (12th). In the penalty shoot-out, Germany failed to score in three attempts, Austria was successful in all attempts.
Against a well-organized and sometimes overly aggressive guest team, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) revealed some weaknesses. Austria took the lead twice with a majority through Lukas Haudum (7th) and Henrik Neubauer (29th). Germany also showed weaknesses in play structure and power play situations. “We played hesitantly, too complicated,” said assistant coach Alexander Sulzer at “MagentaSport”. “We lost it on the power play,” explained captain Moritz Müller.
DEB team has to do without Tim Stützle
There’s still time to get in shape. There will be two more games in Slovakia at the end of next week, and the team should be as complete as possible for the World Cup dress rehearsal on May 9 in Munich against the USA – with the national players from the playoff finalists Red Bull Munich and ERC Ingolstadt as well other North American professionals.
However, according to top defender Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings/waiver), Kreis also has to do without NHL shooting star Tim Stützle. The 21-year-old, who was able to record a strong 90 points in the past regular season, will not receive clearance for the World Cup from his club Ottawa Senators.
Kreis, who played eight World Cup tournaments and two Olympic Games as a player, will start his first world championship as national coach on May 12 in Tampere against Sweden. The other preliminary round opponents are Finland, the USA, Denmark, Austria, Hungary and France.
