Milan, 18 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Germany beat France 5-1 in a play-off to reach the Olympic men's ice hockey quaer-finals where they will face Slovakia on Wednesday.

First period goals from Edmonton Oilers star Leon Drasaitl, Frederik Tiffels and JJ Peterka put the Germans on course on Tuesday and Joshua Samanski on a power play and Nico Sturm wrapped up matters in the final period.

The Germans overcame a sluggish second period where France had pulled one back from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and their goalkeeper Antoine Keller kept them in the game with big saves.

Germany were surprise silver medallists in 2018 but were forced into the play-off after an initial group stage victory against Denmark was followed by defeats against Latvia and the United States.

Further improvement will be needed after Tuesday to prevail against the 2022 bronze medallists Slovakia.

The three group winners and the best runner-up - Canada, US, Slovakia and Finland - advanced directly into the last eight, the remaining four slots are decided in play-offs.

Photo: EPA