In a game that could go a long way to decide which team makes the quarter-finals and which one will have to play in the relegation game at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Men’s World Championship, Germany held a wide edge in territory and shots but it was Denmark that escaped with a 4-1 victory.

The game was, in fact, a lot closer than the score indicates. The score was 2-1 until the Danes hit the empty net twice. Germany outshot Denmark 32-19 in the game. 

Goaltender Anton Wilde stopped 31 of 32 German shots and Andreas Kroeve scored twice in the victory.

“It was an amazing game,” said Wilde. “The team really put it together and worked hard. That’s the way we’ve gotta play in the A-group and it was a great team effort.”

“What a player – I have no words to describe him,” said Danish captain Martinus Schioldan.

“I think we didn’t play that bad,” said German captain Mats Geppart. “We just had to capitalize on our chances – we had enough in the game. If you don’t use them properly, it comes back the other way.”

This was Denmark’s first game of this year’s tournament after being promoted from Division I Group A last year, while Germany was coming off a 7-2 loss to Sweden yesterday.

Germany was stronger the first half of the period, while Denmark came on in the latter half. After 20 minutes, the shots were 8-7 in Germany’s favour and the score was 1-1.

The Germans struck first in the fourth minute while pressuring in the Danish zone. Max Calce’s centring attempt hit the skate of a Danish player and landed on the stick of Tim Hartmann, whose quick shot beat Wilde on the short side.

“We played really good the first 10 minutes,” said Geppart. “We did what we wanted to do, but at the end of the first period, we lost a little bit of our game plan and got sloppy with our passes.”

Denmark tied it with 2:38 to go in the opening period. Behind the net, Thoke Heinsen made a clever backhand pass out front to a wide-open Lucas Althof. With Wolter at his mercy, Althof had time to move the puck to his backhand and beat the German goalie inside the post.

“We hadn’t played any top division games yet so maybe we had some nerves in the stomach,” said Jakobsen. “But we came back strong in the second and third periods, where I thought we were the better team.”

Germany outshot Denmark 15-8 in the middle frame but the Danes scored the only goal to take a 2-1 lead at 26:20. On their third power play of the game, Jakobsen perfectly teed up a one-timer from Andreas Kloeve, whose shot found its way through the arm and body of Wolter, who was sliding to his left.

The Germans nearly tied it a couple of minutes later on a 2-on-1, with Wilde making a great glove save on a shot by Nikita Bloch.

“We had some good momentum in the second period but a few penalties on our side, their goalie and their power play came up big and put us behind,” Geppart sighed. “And in the end, it just wasn’t enough from us.”

The Germans desperately tried to mount an attack in the third period while the Danes sat back and defended. It wasn’t until they got a power play with 6:33 to go that they even got their first shots of the period. Although they didn’t score, the Danes were able to take two precious minutes off the clock.

The Germans then pushed hard at the end. with sniper Calce firing a shot that Wilde got the tip of his glove on with 3:45 to go.

Kloeve with 2:02 remaining and Alexander Lepola with 11 seconds to go gave the Danes some breathing room. When the final horn sounded, the team poured off the bench and mobbed Wilde as if they'd won the gold medal. They didn't do that, but the Danes took a big step towards remaining in the top group for another year. 

“That was such a huge relief,” said Wilde. “That kinda made it game over there, so it was a nice feeling. We couldn’t wait to get off the ice.”