With a convincing 5-1 win over France at Santagiulia Arena on Tuesday, the Germans secured their spot in the quarter-finals. Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring and collected a pair of assists to help lead Team Germany to victory. Frederik Tiffels, JJ Peterka, Josh Samanski, and Nico Sturm each also found the back of the net as Germany steadily built their lead. Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare scored the lone goal for the French in the loss. Germany will face Team Slovakia in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Lines
France Lineup:
Da Costa – Bellemare – Perret
Texier – Boudon – Fabre
Douay – Addamo – Treille
Rech – Ritz – Bertrand
Boscq – Gallet
Autivu – Guebey
Chakiachvili – Cantagallo
Bozon – Thiry
Junca
Keller
Germany Lineup:
Reichel – Draisaitl – Tiffels
Samanski – Stutzle – Peterka
Tuomie – Kahun – Michaels
Rieder – Sturm – Ehl
Wagner – Seider
J. Muller – Wissmann
Kalble – Gawanke
Schutz – M. Muller
Grubauer
Germany Takes Early Control
Leon Draisaitl got things started early in the first period at 16:20 when Josh Samanski collected the puck from Tim Stützle and made a slick backhand pass to Draisaitl, who banged it home into an open net for a power-play goal to give Germany a 1–0 lead. At 9:06, Frederik Tiffels skated near the top of the left face-off circle, collected a loose puck, cut to the net, and banked the puck in off Julian Junca’s mask for a 2–0 lead. JJ Peterka scored his first career Olympic goal, giving the Germans a 3–0 lead with 1:47 left in the opening frame after receiving a pass from Stützle, driving the net, and flipping a backhand shot over Junca.
With 15:58 on the clock in the second frame, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare took a pass from Jordann Perret. His centering attempt from behind the goal line deflected off Moritz Müller’s leg, and the puck found its way past Philipp Grubauer to cut the deficit to 3–1.
Germany Seals the Win
Josh Samaski made it 4–1 at 12:59 of the third period when Draisaitl collected the puck from Moritz Seider before making a pass to Samanski in the slot. Samanski momentarily lost control but quickly regained possession and lifted the puck over Antoine Keller. Later, Nico Sturm struck the empty French net with 55 seconds remaining for the 5–1 final.
Notes
Germany has reached the Olympic quarterfinals featuring NHL players for just the second time. Their previous appearance came in 2002, when they fell 5–0 to Team USA.
Philipp Grubauer made a total of 30 saves for Germany.
Before being replaced, Julian Junca allowed three goals on 13 shots. Antoine Keller made 21 saves in relief for France.
Tim Stützle picked up a pair of assists. Stützle (4-1—5 in 4 GP) assisted on Draisaitl’s opening goal and now ranks third in points by a German player at an Olympics featuring NHL participation, trailing Len Soccio (6 in 2002) and Klaus Kathan (5 in 2002). Stützle recorded two assists in the opening frame, becoming just the second German player to post a multi-assist period at an Olympic tournament with NHL players. The other was Daniel Kreutzer on Feb. 18, 2006.
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring with his second goal of the tournament, improving to 2-2—4 in 4 GP. He owns the most career NHL goals (428), assists (608), and points (1,036) by a German-born player. His father, Peter Draisaitl, posted the exact same stat line (2-2—4 in 4 GP) at the 1998 Olympics. Draisaitl (1-1—2) and Stützle (0-2—2) became the fourth and fifth German players to record multiple multi-point games in a single Olympic tournament featuring NHL players, joining Klaus Kathan (2002), Len Soccio (2002), and Peter Draisaitl (1998). Draisaitl also became the first German NHL player to record a three-point game at the Olympics.
JJ Peterka scored his first career Olympic goal to give Germany a 3–0 lead. He has 20 goals in his first season with the Utah Mammoth, tied for the most by a player on a new NHL team in 2025–26 alongside Trevor Zegras (20 with PHI) and Anthony Mantha (20 with PIT).
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (40 years, 348 days) scored to cut the deficit to 3–1. The only players older to score at an Olympics featuring NHL participation are Teemu Selänne (43 in 2014), Jaromír Jágr (41 in 2014), and Daniel Alfredsson (41 in 2014).
This marks the second all-time meeting between France and Germany at an Olympics featuring NHL players. Their previous matchup came in the preliminary round of the 1998 Olympics (Feb. 10), when Peter Draisaitl assisted on the game-winning goal in a 2–0 victory for Germany.
With the win, Germany advances to face Slovakia in Wednesday’s first quarterfinal. It will be the third Olympic meeting between the countries featuring NHL players and the first in the quarterfinals or later. Germany won the previous two matchups (3–0 in 2002; 4–2 in 1998).
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