Slovakia fell short to Germany in the first match in Ostrava, losing by two goals after a shootout

The first duel of Group B in Ostrava’s Ostravar Arena was played by the teams of Slovakia and Germany at the Ice Hockey World Championship 2024. It didn’t look like it after the first period, but the duel offered an interesting shootout, after which the Germans took their first points of the tournament.

The first period did not produce a goal

Shortly after the opening goal, Germany could enjoy the first goal of the duel. Stanislav Škorvánek caught a hard shot from the blue line, but it fell out of his hands. Fortunately, the confused goalie was saved by the defensemen who shot the puck out of the goal line.

The following German offensive action also caused problems for Škorvanek. Maksymilian Szuber also showed his strength and the Slovak goalie got the puck under control for the second time. The Slovak team had a bigger opportunity after three minutes of play when Juraj Slafkovsky shot from the side, but Phillip Grubauer showed his quality.

The second period offered goal scoring and a shootout at the end

The first part of the game didn’t get the fans out of their seats. In the second period, they waited again for a longer period, but at 29:46 the opening goal was scored to give Germany the lead. In the power play the Germans gained control of the offensive zone and after a few shots Škorvánek could not withstand the pressure and Dominik’s shot fell behind him.

After three minutes Germany increased their lead and again with the help of a power play. This time the Germans did not choose the tactic of shooting the goal, but a quick combination, at the end of which Jonas Müller shot alone.

Two goals scored by the Slovaks, who increased their pressure and managed to reduce the deficit at 36:06. After a few shots on goal, Marek Hrivík got the puck and from an angle he hit a shot that Grubauer didn’t have time to cover.

Two minutes later, the Slovak fans were even happier as Martin Fehérváry helped them to equalise. After a pass from Martin Pospíšil, he leaned into the puck and aimed accurately from the blue line.

Germany had the last word, however, as Lukas Kälble scored with 29 seconds left in the second period. The score after the second period was 2:3 for Slovakia.

Germany takes the first three points of the tournament

Germany’s lead increased again after less than five minutes of the third period. One of the German forwards fell while trying to escape and the puck was passed to Marc Michaels, who beat Škorvánk.

Hope for Slovakia came 12 minutes before the end, but Hrivik’s second goal was called back by the referees after a review for offside. Libor Hudacek was more successful and his tap-in brought the Slovaks a reduction. However, all efforts came to naught at 56:05 when Leonhard Pfodeler increased the score to 5:3 after a Slovak mistake.

Germany was even more cheerful after a quick counterattack by Tobias Eder, who took advantage of Slovakia’s risk without a goalkeeper. Slovakia took the last word in the duel and Matúš Sukel at least reduced the score to the final 4:6.

Slovakia failed to win its opening game at the World Championship and Germany takes all three points to lead Group B.

Source: IIHF, Ice Hockey World Championship 2024