Germany's Dominik Kahun (#72) draws first blood in a 6-1 victory over Hungary at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning, Denmark
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
Germany took a two-goal first-period lead and rode it to a 6-1 win over newly promoted Hungary in its 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship opener on Saturday.
Dominik Kahun scored twice, and Joshua Samanski, Lukas Kalble, Frederik Tiffels, and Alexander Ehl added singles for the Germans. Lukas Reichel had two assists. Final shots favoured Germany 35-19.
"I think it was good," said Reichel, one of three Germans who played in the NHL this season, along with captain Moritz Seider (Detroit) and goalie Philipp Grubauer (Seattle). "The first period was maybe a little bit sloppy, but once we got the first and second goal, we we got some momentum, and then we were creative. We played with a lot of joy, and we had fun out there, and that's the biggest part."
Gergo Ambrus replied for Hungary, which sits 19th in the IIHF World Ranking.
"It was a tough start," said Hungarian assistant captain Istvan Terbocs. "I think we played good in the second. I really liked the effort in the battle. We can build on this. Other than that, we gave them too many chances, so it's not acceptable on that level."
Grubauer, who plays for the Seattle Kraken, earned the first win of his sixth Ice Hockey World Championship. The 2010 Memorial Cup champion and 2018 Stanley Cup winner is questing for his first medal at this tournament at age 33.
The game was hard-fought and a little closer than the final score indicated. Hungary's effort was undercut by defensive errors and an inability to finish on its limited scoring chances.
The German win spoiled the tournament debut of Gergely Majoross as head coach of Hungary. Majoross, a former national team forward, skated for his country at various Ice Hockey World Championship levels between 1999 and 2009. The 45-year-old served as a men’s national team assistant coach for many years.
After coming up empty on two early power plays, the Germans exploited a Hungarian defensive breakdown to open the scoring at 10:54. On a 2-on-0 rush, Justin Schutz dished the puck across to Kahun, who hammered it past lunging netminder Bence Balizs.
At 16:19, Samanski doubled the German lead, as Reichel cut through the slot and found him back door.
In the second period, the Hungarians picked up their pace considerably and outshot Germany 12-8, but just couldn’t beat Grubauer. Near the seven-minute mark, the Germans thought they’d extended their lead in a goalmouth scramble as Yasin Ehliz popped the puck into the gaping cage. However, Hungary used up its coach’s challenge on the play, alleging goalie interference, and upon review, the goal was overturned.
Germany finally made it 3-0 at 14:09. On the verge of being caught by Hungarian defenders on a partial breakaway, Maximilian Kastner surprised them with a back pass to Kalble, and his shot squeezed past Balizs.
With just 16 seconds left in the middle frame, Tiffels rushed to the net to redirect a hard pass from Reichel and put the game out of reach.
Terbocs assessed his team's struggles: "We need to play more with the puck, not just throw it away. And we need to be sharp in the D-zone to get the puck back quicker and not give them that many opportunities with the cross-ice passing and other stuff."
Ehl put Germany up 5-0 at 5:54 of the third period off the rush, converting a nice feed from Patrick Hager that eluded two Hungarian defenders.
Less than three minutes later, Ambrus broke Grubauer's shutout bid, snapping the puck past the German netminder's blocker. But that was as close as Hungary would get. Kahun tucked in the sixth German goal with 51 seconds left.
Germany – eighth in the current IIHF World Ranking – is a nation on the rise. Its modern-day peaks include silver medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland. Last year, the Germans settled for sixth place with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to eventual silver medalist Switzerland.
Grubauer spoke abour this tournament as a potential stepping stone to Milano Cortina 2026: "You want to play at the Olympics, and you have another shot at playing at the Olympics. It's going to be the first time for me and a couple guys. This group has been successful a couple of years ago. So it's important to have a good tournament here, because I think most guys who made the team here are going to go to the Olympics, and then we move on from there."
The Hungarians have participated just four times in the modern era in the Ice Hockey World Championships (2009, 2016, 2023, 2025).
Hungary earned a certain distinction in this game by icing one of the youngest players in tournament history. Forward Doman Szongoth (born 8 June, 2008) made his tournament debut at age 16. By way of comparison, Szongoth – who plays for the KooKoo organization in Kouvola, Finland – is younger than all but four of the skaters at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa.
"He is a really good player," Terbocs said. "I played with him this year a lot, and I really like his game, what he does for our team, and also during the season for his club team. I'm really happy to have that young guy, that young power in our team."
Szongoth made it on to the final game summary, but only for a cross-checking minor with less than six minutes remaining.
The youngest player ever to score at an Ice Hockey World Championship was also Hungarian. Sandor Miklos, a Budapest native, was 15 when he tallied two goals in four games at the 1931 Ice Hockey World Championship in Kyrnica, Poland.
It’s hard to call Germany-Hungary a rivalry per se as the two sides have only met nine times in Ice Hockey World Championship history, with Germany winning eight times. The lone point Hungary has taken off the Germans was a 2-2 tie on 19 February 1937 in London, England.
On Sunday, Germany takes on Kazakhstan, while the Hungarians battle the Americans.
"I think it's going to be a tough game," Reichel said of facing the Kazakhs. "They play really hard, and they won today [2-1 over Norway]. So they have back to back, we have back to back, it's going to be like a grind. It's going to be mentally tough, but I think we're prepared."
Dominik Kahun scored twice, and Joshua Samanski, Lukas Kalble, Frederik Tiffels, and Alexander Ehl added singles for the Germans. Lukas Reichel had two assists. Final shots favoured Germany 35-19.
"I think it was good," said Reichel, one of three Germans who played in the NHL this season, along with captain Moritz Seider (Detroit) and goalie Philipp Grubauer (Seattle). "The first period was maybe a little bit sloppy, but once we got the first and second goal, we we got some momentum, and then we were creative. We played with a lot of joy, and we had fun out there, and that's the biggest part."
Gergo Ambrus replied for Hungary, which sits 19th in the IIHF World Ranking.
"It was a tough start," said Hungarian assistant captain Istvan Terbocs. "I think we played good in the second. I really liked the effort in the battle. We can build on this. Other than that, we gave them too many chances, so it's not acceptable on that level."
Grubauer, who plays for the Seattle Kraken, earned the first win of his sixth Ice Hockey World Championship. The 2010 Memorial Cup champion and 2018 Stanley Cup winner is questing for his first medal at this tournament at age 33.
The game was hard-fought and a little closer than the final score indicated. Hungary's effort was undercut by defensive errors and an inability to finish on its limited scoring chances.
The German win spoiled the tournament debut of Gergely Majoross as head coach of Hungary. Majoross, a former national team forward, skated for his country at various Ice Hockey World Championship levels between 1999 and 2009. The 45-year-old served as a men’s national team assistant coach for many years.
After coming up empty on two early power plays, the Germans exploited a Hungarian defensive breakdown to open the scoring at 10:54. On a 2-on-0 rush, Justin Schutz dished the puck across to Kahun, who hammered it past lunging netminder Bence Balizs.
At 16:19, Samanski doubled the German lead, as Reichel cut through the slot and found him back door.
In the second period, the Hungarians picked up their pace considerably and outshot Germany 12-8, but just couldn’t beat Grubauer. Near the seven-minute mark, the Germans thought they’d extended their lead in a goalmouth scramble as Yasin Ehliz popped the puck into the gaping cage. However, Hungary used up its coach’s challenge on the play, alleging goalie interference, and upon review, the goal was overturned.
Germany finally made it 3-0 at 14:09. On the verge of being caught by Hungarian defenders on a partial breakaway, Maximilian Kastner surprised them with a back pass to Kalble, and his shot squeezed past Balizs.
With just 16 seconds left in the middle frame, Tiffels rushed to the net to redirect a hard pass from Reichel and put the game out of reach.
Terbocs assessed his team's struggles: "We need to play more with the puck, not just throw it away. And we need to be sharp in the D-zone to get the puck back quicker and not give them that many opportunities with the cross-ice passing and other stuff."
Ehl put Germany up 5-0 at 5:54 of the third period off the rush, converting a nice feed from Patrick Hager that eluded two Hungarian defenders.
Less than three minutes later, Ambrus broke Grubauer's shutout bid, snapping the puck past the German netminder's blocker. But that was as close as Hungary would get. Kahun tucked in the sixth German goal with 51 seconds left.
Germany – eighth in the current IIHF World Ranking – is a nation on the rise. Its modern-day peaks include silver medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland. Last year, the Germans settled for sixth place with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to eventual silver medalist Switzerland.
Grubauer spoke abour this tournament as a potential stepping stone to Milano Cortina 2026: "You want to play at the Olympics, and you have another shot at playing at the Olympics. It's going to be the first time for me and a couple guys. This group has been successful a couple of years ago. So it's important to have a good tournament here, because I think most guys who made the team here are going to go to the Olympics, and then we move on from there."
The Hungarians have participated just four times in the modern era in the Ice Hockey World Championships (2009, 2016, 2023, 2025).
Hungary earned a certain distinction in this game by icing one of the youngest players in tournament history. Forward Doman Szongoth (born 8 June, 2008) made his tournament debut at age 16. By way of comparison, Szongoth – who plays for the KooKoo organization in Kouvola, Finland – is younger than all but four of the skaters at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa.
"He is a really good player," Terbocs said. "I played with him this year a lot, and I really like his game, what he does for our team, and also during the season for his club team. I'm really happy to have that young guy, that young power in our team."
Szongoth made it on to the final game summary, but only for a cross-checking minor with less than six minutes remaining.
The youngest player ever to score at an Ice Hockey World Championship was also Hungarian. Sandor Miklos, a Budapest native, was 15 when he tallied two goals in four games at the 1931 Ice Hockey World Championship in Kyrnica, Poland.
It’s hard to call Germany-Hungary a rivalry per se as the two sides have only met nine times in Ice Hockey World Championship history, with Germany winning eight times. The lone point Hungary has taken off the Germans was a 2-2 tie on 19 February 1937 in London, England.
On Sunday, Germany takes on Kazakhstan, while the Hungarians battle the Americans.
"I think it's going to be a tough game," Reichel said of facing the Kazakhs. "They play really hard, and they won today [2-1 over Norway]. So they have back to back, we have back to back, it's going to be like a grind. It's going to be mentally tough, but I think we're prepared."
Germany vs Hungary - 2025 IIHF WM
OF