The first-ever Olympic meeting between Germany and Denmark featuring NHL rosters took place Thursday at RHO Arena, with Germany securing a historic 3-1 victory. The win marked Germany\u2019s first Olympic triumph with NHL players on the ice since defeating Latvia in February 2002. Tim St\u00fctzle led the charge with a two-goal performance, while Leon Draisaitl set the tone early with a goal of his own, and Philipp Grubauer was sensational in net, turning away 37 shots to stifle the Danish attack. Although Oscar Fisker M\u00f8lgaard managed to get Denmark on the board, it wasn\u2019t enough to overcome the German momentum. Germany now looks ahead to a Saturday clash with Latvia, which fell to the U.S. in their opener, while Denmark prepares for a tough test against the Americans.<\/p>\n
Germany Lineup:<\/p>\n
Samanski \u2013 Draisaitl \u2013 Tiffels
Peterka \u2013 Stutzle \u2013 Stachowiak
Reichel \u2013 Michaels \u2013 Kahun
Reider \u2013 Sturm \u2013 Ehl<\/p>\n
Wagner \u2013 Seider<\/p>\n
J. Muller \u2013 Wissmann
Kalble \u2013 Gawanke
M. Muller<\/p>\n
Grubauer
Franzreb<\/p>\n
Denmark Lineup:<\/p>\n
Bjorkstrand \u2013 True \u2013 Ehlers
Blichfeld \u2013 Eller \u2013 Jensen
Olesen \u2013 Fisker M\u00f8lgaard \u2013 Aagaard
Storm \u2013 Wejse \u2013 Russell
Poulsen<\/p>\n
Jenson Aabo \u2013 Lauridsen
B. Jensen \u2013 Setkov
Laurisden \u2013 Bruggisser
Lassen<\/p>\n
Andersen
Sogaard<\/p>\n
Leon Draisaitl redirected a pass by Frederik Tiffels from down low in the bottom of the right circle, to score short side on Frederik Andersen just 23 seconds into the opening period to give Germany a 1-0 lead. Later in the first period at 6:51, Oscar\u00a0Fisker M\u00f8lgaard tied it 1-1 when he wasn\u2019t able to control Nikolaj Ehlers\u2019 centering pass, but the puck still slid right under Philipp Grubauer\u2019s left pad, who was moving the other way.<\/p>\n
Tim Stutzle buried a one-timer from the right hash marks after taking a backhanded pass from JJ Peterka to put the Germans back in front 2-1 in the middle frame at 15:40. Not too long after his first goal, Stutzle struck again to extend it to 3-1 with a power-play goal with 9:58 on the clock. His centering pass, which was meant for a cutting in Draisaitl, deflected in off Oliver Lauridsen\u2019s shin past Andersen.<\/p>\n
Game Notes:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Philipp Grubauer made a total of 37 saves for Germany.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Frederik Andersen made a total of 23 saves for Denmark.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Leon Draisaitl scored just 23 seconds into the game for Germany \u2013 the third-fastest goal to open an Olympic game with NHL players (behind Jozef Stumpel at 0:11 in 2002 and Dmitri Pankov at 0:20 in 2002). \u2026Draisaitl finished with two points (1-1\u20132) against Denmark. His father, Peter, also played in the 1998 Olympics with NHL players and tied for Germany\u2019s team lead with four points (2-2\u20134).<\/p>\n
\u2013 Draisaitl and Frederik Tiffels (drafted 167th overall by PIT in 2015) both factored in on Germany\u2019s opening goal. The two were minor hockey teammates in Mannheim at the U16 and U18 levels.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Nikolaj Ehlers recorded an assist on Denmark\u2019s first goal of the tournament. He leads all Danish players in NHL history in goals, assists, and points, passing Frans Nielsen in assists earlier this season.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tim St\u00fctzle scored to give Germany a 2-1 lead. It\u2019s just the second time two NHL-represented German players have scored in the same Olympic game, joining Marcel Goc (NSH) and Dennis Seidenberg (FLA) in 2010 vs. Belarus. \u2026St\u00fctzle became the second German player to score twice in an Olympic game with NHL players, following Jan Benda in 1998.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Germany\u2019s rise will be on display in Milano Cortina, with Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider, and Tim St\u00fctzle making their Olympic debuts. Since their last NHL-player Olympics in Vancouver, Germany has won silver in PyeongChang and finished top four three times at Worlds (2nd in 2023; 4th in 2021 and 2010).<\/p>\n
\u2013 Eleven German players on the roster have NHL experience, including Leon Draisaitl (EDM), the highest-scoring German in NHL history, with more than twice the points of the next closest player.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Germany\u2019s last Olympic goal with NHL players came from Manuel Klinge in the Vancouver qualification playoffs. The goal before that was scored by Marcel Goc, the only German to make his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Game 5 of the 2004 CQF).<\/p>\n
\u2013 This is Denmark\u2019s first Olympics featuring NHL players. At Beijing 2022, they reached the quarterfinals after going 2-1-0 in the preliminary round.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Nikolaj Ehlers holds the NHL records for most goals, assists, and points by a Danish player. He helped Denmark qualify for Beijing \u2013 the program\u2019s first Olympic appearance \u2013 and scored the late tying goal before Denmark upset Canada in the 2025 World Championship quarterfinals en route to a best-ever fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Eleven Danish players on the roster have NHL experience, including two current teammate pairings: Lars Eller and Mads Sogaard (OTT), and Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR). The other current NHLers are Oliver Bjorkstrand (TBL) and Oscar Fisker Molgaard (SEA), who were recalled for their final game before the Olympic break.<\/p>\n
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