Slovakia beat Germany to reach Olympic men's ice hockey semis / Photo: - - POOL/AFP
Slovakia beat Germany to reach Olympic men's ice hockey semis
Slovakia dispatched Germany 6-2 on Wednesday to become the first team to advance to the Olympic men's ice hockey semi-finals before favourites Canada and the United States take to the ice for their games later.
The Slovaks, bronze medallists four years ago, had progressed from Group B of the group stage, defeating 2022 Winter Games champions Finland and Italy but losing to Sweden.
The Slovaks capitalised on their dominance at the end of the first period with Pavol Regenda scoring after 19 minutes against a German team unrecognisable from the side that thrashed France 5-1 on Tuesday.
The rest of the game was a Slovak demonstration of skill, with Milos Kelemen and Oliver Okuliar scoring two quick-fire goals before Dalibor Dvorsky grabbed a fourth just after half an hour.
Germany's 2020 National Hockey League (NHL) MVP Leon Draisaitl set up Lukas Reichel to keep their hopes alive after 35 minutes but that was quickly extinguished at the start of the final period by Regenda's second goal.
To round things off, Thomas Tatar responded to Frederik Tiffels' power-play score after 50 minutes with a goal of his own.
"It’s unbelievable against guys and teams like this, the individuals they have, it’s crazy," said Regenda.
"We are happy, we are a great team, from first to last. Everybody is working 200 percent every day and you can see out there. We are happy that we are in the top four of the world now."
All four quarter-finals take place on Wednesday.
Canada play the Czech Republic next before Finland take on Switzerland and then the United States face Sweden.
Both Canada and the USA have rosters packed with players from the NHL, who are playing at an Olympics for the first time since 2014.
A.Kenny--MP
