Wave after wave, shot after shot. The Slovaks came prepared to open the 2024 IIHF World Championship but ran into a hot goaltender.

Led by Philipp Grubauer’s 35 saves, Germany knocked off Slovakia 6-4 in a back-and-forth contest that kept fans on both sides engaged right to the last minute.

Grubauer’s best stop of the game – certainly a game saver – came midway through the third period with Slovakia on a powerplay. Under immense Slovak pressure, Grubauer made one save and then had to quickly prepare for a rebound with the puck landing on the stick of Slovak captain Tomas Tatar. The sniper was wide open in the slot for a Grade A chance that, somehow, Grubauer gobbled up.



Minutes earlier, Slovakia appeared to cut into the German two-goal lead when Marek Hrivik scored his second power play goal of the game on a shot in close on Grubauer. The play was challenged by Germany for offside and, after the referees reviewed the play, the call on the ice was overturned and it was ruled no goal, keeping the Germans ahead by two.

"We played a good game. It was a hard battle," said German defender Kai Wissmann. "We used our speed well on rushes and moved the puck well. I think we deserved to win. It's a big win. Slovakia is a really good team, so it's always nice to start the tournament like that. It was an amazing atmosphere with the fans from both teams."
 

Slovakia did made it close with less than six minutes to play when Juraj Slafkovsky drove the net and got the puck to linemate Libor Hudacek who fired it home to make it 4-3. However, with four minutes to play, Germany regained its two-goal lead as Leonhard Pfoderl swept in a pass from Yasin Ehliz and the Germans wouldn’t relinquish the lead from there. Tobias Eder added an empty-net goal with 1:05 to play.

Slovakia didn’t quit, though, something that will keep head coach Craig Ramsay happy. Matus Sukel scored with 15 seconds left to perhaps give the Slovaks some momentum heading into their second game.

"I feel like we missed a couple of important moments in the game, when we should have been more focused," said Hrivik of Slovakia. "We didn't manage those moments, and it felt like we were chasing the game the whole time. We need a better start next game."

Following a scoreless first period, Dominik Kahun got the scoring started at 9:46 of the second on a German 5-on-3 powerplay, when he jammed in a puck from the paint on a goal mouth scramble. Slovakia goaltender Stanislav Skorvanek made the initial save on an Ehliz one-timer but couldn’t stop Kahun in close.

Germany took a 2-0 lead less than three minutes later on another power play, this time on a goal by Jonas Muller who snuck in from the point and beat Skorvanek with a hard wrist shot.

Just when it appeared the Germans were in control, though, Slovakia struck back with two goals in two minutes. First, Marek Hrivik beat Grubauer from his left when the German goaltender was down and out after making two excellent saves moments earlier.

Then, Martin Pospisil made a nice backhand pass at the blueline to Martin Fehervary, who unloaded with a bomb from the point that made it 2-2.

Germany retook the lead late in the frame, when Lukas Kalble pounced on a loose puck in the Slovak end and ripped a shot top shelf from the top of the circle. Germany led 3-2 after two periods.

"We got on the horse when we tied the game in the second, but we got scored on just before the end of the period," said Hrivik. "Maybe if we started the third tied it would have been a different game."

Germany will return to action on Saturday when it takes on the United States. Slovakia is off until Sunday, when it takes on Kazakhstan.

"We want to go from game to game, not look too far ahead," Wissmann said of the Germans' next game. "We play the U.S, and Sweden next, and they're really strong. It's a tough schedule to start, but it's similar to what we had last year."