Competing in the men’s ice hockey, the German squad isn’t having the best of times so far. And after their loss to the United States of America, they seem to be in deep trouble. And to make things worse, USA star Matthew Tkachuk had some sarcastic remarks towards opponent Leon Draisaitl. However, it looks like Draisaitl took the heat out of the debate.

“Leon Draisaitl didn’t have much to say about Matthew Tkachuk’s chirp,” wrote Mark Masters on X, sharing a clip of TSN’s Ryan Rishaug asking him about Tkachuk after the game. 

While Draisaitl did not want to comment, he had quite a nightmarish time on the rink. Facing off against the USA, the hype was shooting through the roof. Fans came in large numbers to witness the battle between Tkachuk and Draisaitl. Sadly, things turned out to be a dead rubber as Team USA reigned supreme. 

During a break in the Group C men’s preliminary round, Tkachuk could be seen chirping towards the German star. 

“Always the bridesmaid, eh, Leon? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” said Tkachuk as picked up by the NBC broadcast. 

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For the uninitiated, the duo had quite a history among themselves. Draisaitl, who was a member of the Edmonton Oilers, lost to Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers in both the 2024 and 2025 finals of the Stanley Cup. And thus, this was quite a surprise attack that seemed to have thrown the 2-time Stanley Cup finalist off his game.

Despite his high rating, Draisaitl finished the game with zero shots, zero points, and a -1 rating. And worst of all, Germany suffered a stinging 5-1 loss to the USA. On the contrary, Tkachuk dropped five points along with a couple of assists. 

Now, with such a setback, Germany is in big trouble. Their road to the quarterfinals looks pretty much clouded at the moment. Before their loss to the USA, the German athletes also lost 3-4 to Latvia. Next up, they will be facing France in an all-important playoff game on February 17, 2026. 

Amidst struggles, Team Germany is trying their best to bounce back. 

Germany laments missed power plays as USA surge to Milan Olympics quarterfinals

Germany had 7 total advantageous opportunities across the two games and failed to score even once. This turned out to be a big problem because power plays are usually where teams are expected to score. Moving forward, after losing to the USA in the preliminary round, the team has been left in a situation of concern.

Reflecting on the same, German defenseman Moritz Seider stated, “A little devastated.”

However, looking forward to the coming games, Seider tried to reflect on the positives as well, as he said, “I think still there are plenty of positive things to take away. The starts have been great in all three games. That’s something we’ve got to continue, but 20 minutes isn’t enough to play with the big nations. If we play like that against France, I think we give ourselves a really good chance to advance. That’s definitely something we’ve got to focus on.”

Analyzing their gameplay from a similar angle, the German forward, Nico Sturm, too, shared an optimistic approach. He shared how he felt that they tried to hold on to the game ‘pretty good’ as they showed some offensive moves.

However, referring to Team USA as lethal, they added, “But at the end of the day, they’re lethal with the chances that you give them. We’re going to analyze what we did wrong, but I think we’re going into the next round with a good feeling.”

On the other end, the picture appears different in Team USA’s locker room. Their coach, Mike Sullivan, appears happy with how his team played against Germany.

Sullivan praised his team and said, “All our guys know what he’s capable of. He’s an elite player, he’s one of the best players in the world. When he does a lot of the little things and he’s committed to play on both sides of the puck like he was tonight, I think he’s an inspiration to the group.”

Team USA center, Auston Matthews, shared how the confidence helps the team to grow and flourish even more. He is happy regarding how the team has taken measured moves towards the right direction, which has pushed them to the quarterfinals.