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Germany finishes the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on a positive note, defeating Slovakia 6-4 despite being outshot 41-16. Elias Pul and Clemens Sager had three points each for Germany and Linus Viellard was brilliant in goal. The Slovaks were 4-for-10 on the power play but were otherwise unable to score. Luka Radivojevič had four assists.
Penalties: 0:0. PP goals: 0:0. SH goals: 0:0.
Report
The Slovaks utterly dominated the first 10 minutes of the game but were only able to score once. On the power play, Tobias Pitka scored on a blast just shy of the eight-minute mark.
Then the Germans struck three times in a span of 4:16. Tomas Kerbel tied it when he corralled a bouncing puck in front of the net, then Elias Pul gave the Germans the lead when he found space over Martin Harunik's shoulder. Finally, Nick Maul sent a shot through a crowd that Harunik didn’t see until the last moment and only got a piece of.
The Slovaks thought they got one back in the last minute of the opening period, but the goal was immediately waved off by the referee, who ruled it had been kicked into the net.
The teams exchanged goals in the second period, with Slovakia again having a wide edg e in play. In the second minute of the period, Pul forced a turnover in the neutral zone, who then fed Clemens Sager on a 2-on-1 to give Germany a three-goal lead. In the 36th minute, Luka Radivojevič teed up a Tomáš Pobležal one-timer for another Slovak power-play goal.
Early in the third period, the Slovaks’ third power-play goal of the game brought them within one, with Radivojevič and Pobežal setting up Tobias Tomík just five seconds after the face-off. Then their fourth PP marker tied it with 8:24 to play – once again it was Radivojevič to Tomík, who ripped a high shot through a crowd.
But the game remained tied for just 14 seconds before Germany regained the lead, with Manuel Schams sending a shot from the point that went untouched through everybody.
In the late going, the Slovaks attempted to get Haronik out for a sixth attacker, but when the Germans gained the puck mid-change, the Slovak goalie returned to net, resulting in a bench minor for too many players on the ice. Eventually, Haronik did get out to make it 5-on-5, but Sager iced the German victory with an empty-net power-play goal.
Reactions
Martin Dendis (head coach, Team Slovakia): “We showed character. We created chances and tied it up 4-4. However, it's hard to win when we give out five gifts to the Germans. Gifts are given out at Christmas, not in August.”
Tobias Abstreiter (head coach, Team Germany): “Our goal was that game four had to be our best, and the guys really made it come to fruition. The first period was really good from us but then we made it hard on ourselves with too many penalties, which brought the Slovaks back. They’re all young players, they have to learn from that and be smarter in those situations.”
Asked about the winning goal: “The shift after a goal is always very important and it was a good play. We made efficient use of our chances.”