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Draisaitl helps Germans punch ticket to Olympic quarterfinals with win over France: Recap, Reaction, and Highlights
Team Germany Leon Draisaitl
Photo credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Feb 17, 2026, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 17, 2026, 11:33 EST
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For just the second time with National Hockey League players, Team Germany has made the Olympic quarterfinals.
They punched their ticket Tuesday morning in a qualification game against France, beating them 5-1 with a one-goal, three-point performance from Leon Draisaitl. The Germans’ win sets up a quarterfinals matchup against Slovakia on Wednesday.
Two and a half minutes into the game, Team France took a penalty, giving Team Germany an early opportunity to score. For the first time since the opening minute of Team Germany’s campaign, Draisaitl found the back of the net as he one-timed a Josh Samanski pass past the French netminder for a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the first period, Draisaitl’s childhood friend Frederik Tiffels found the back of the net for the first time in the tournament, banking it off the French netminder’s head to give Team Germany a 2-0 lead. Draisaitl was on the ice for this goal.
He was also on the ice for J.J. Peterka’s first of the tournament, as Team Germany jumped out to a 3-0 lead with just under two minutes left in the first period. Team France made a goaltending change for the second period to help stabilize them, as Pierre-Édouard Bellemare scored four minutes into the middle frame.
Thankfully, that’s the closest Team France came to a comeback. Team Germany received their second power play about seven minutes into the final frame, taking advantage of it to make it 4-1. The goal scorer? None other than Samanski, who scored a Zach Hyman-esque goal after a pass from Draisaitl.
Pushing for a miracle comeback, Team France pulled their netminder late in the game. Draisaitl picked up an assist as Nico Sturm iced the game. Also picking up an assist was former Oiler, Tobias Reider.

Takeaways…

  • This was Leon Draisaitl’s second two-point game of the tournament, and his first since Team Germany’s opener, which was also a victory for them. Overall, he played 24:07 with four shots on goal, along with a 63.3 per cent faceoff percentage. Overall, he had a goal and two assists and was on the ice for all five of Team Germany’s goals. 
  • As for the other Edmonton Oiler forward, this was by far Josh Samanski’s best game of the tournament, as he also picked up a goal and an assist. His goal showed shades of Zach Hyman. Samanski finished with 14:02 of ice time with two shots.
  • As for former Oilers, Tobias Reider picked up an assist, while Dominik Kahun had a quiet game for Team Germany. On the French side of things, Yohan Auvitu saved a goal with some good stick work.
  • While this is only Team Germany’s second time qualifying for the quarterfinals with NHL’ers at the Olympics, they won the silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, falling to Russia in the gold medal game.
  • Team Germany were the favourites to win this game, and they did just that. The French stopped the bleeding with a goaltending change, but Team Germany is just a better team overall.
  • Finishing second in the group is a blessing in disguise for Team Germany, as Slovakia is the weakest of the four teams who earned a quarterfinal bye. It certainly beats playing Team Sweden in the quarterfinals, essentially what Team USA will have to do barring an insane upset by Team Latvia later on Tuesday.
  • As for the other games in the qualification playoffs, Team Switzerland beat the hosts, Team Italy, in another early game. Team Canada will know their opponents later on Tuesday, as Team Denmark and Team Czechia battle for a spot in the quarterfinals at 8:40 AM MT. Lastly, Team Sweden will play Team Latvia at 1:10 PM MT.
  • Team Germany will be back in action on Wednesday, as that game against Team Slovakia is once again the early game, starting at 4:10 AM MT. It’s a pretty brutal start time for anyone in North America.

Germany’s other Olympic game recaps

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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