Leon Draisaitl (one goal, one assist) and Tim Stutzle (two goals) jump-started Germany in their first game of the Olympics en route to a 3-1 over Denmark.

Draisaitl plays for the Edmonton Oilers and Stutzle for the Ottawa Senators, and both brought their NHL best to this entertaining, opening game. Draisaitl, team captain, also took a whopping 30 of the team's 68 faceoffs in a game in which the Germans did not incur a penalty all night.

This marked the first time these teams have played at the Olympics. Both Group C teams are back at it on Saturday. The Germans play Latvia while the Danes and Americans play later that night.

"This was a good start to the tournament," said Germany's Marc Michaelis. "I think our best players were the best players tonight, so we deserved to win. There wasn't a lot of flow to the game. A lot of whistles, but we stayed calm and defended well. It's nice to get into a rhythm right away but we couldn't tonight."

"I thought it was a pretty even game," offered Nicklas Jensen from Denmark. "I thought we maybe believed we could hold onto it a little longer. We're maybe playing sometimes too simple of a game, but any Germany-Denmark game can go 50-50. We had great star power, but they have a guy who's a difference maker every time he steps on the ice, best-on-best. He showed up pretty quickly today. There are a lot of positives we can take from this, but we also have to learn."

Germany got the early jump in this game. Draisaitl got the puck in his own end and fired a long pass to Frederik Tiffels, who brought the puck in over the Denmark line. Draisaitl followed up looking for a drop pass, and when that didn’t come, he headed to the net. Tiffels threaded a firm pass ahead, and Draisaitl tipped it past a surprised Frederik Andersen just 23 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Not long after, Moritz Seider almost made it 2-0 when his long shot clanged off the crossbar, and Phillip Bruggisser matched this red-iron luck when his screen shot from the point fooled Philipp Grubauer but hit the post.

The Danes skated evenly with the Germans and were a little more intense on the puck, and they were rewarded at 13:09. Nikolaj Ehlers got to a puck in the corner and whipped it out front where Oscar Molgaard got his stick on it. The puck dribbled under Grubauer and over the line to tie the game.

Denmark almost went ahead on a similar play later in the period when Alexander True took a pass from Ehlers while he was going to the net. True, however, redirected the puck high.

The Germans took control in the second, not because of extended puck possession or play in the offensive zone so much as that they capitalized on their chances. J-J Peterka got to a loose puck in the corner and whipped it out front quickly. Stutzle, falling back, managed to get good wood on the shot and beat Andersen over the glove at 4:20.

The two players reversed roles soon after, but the Peterka shot was stopped by Andersen this time. Nevertheless, Germany went ahead midway through the period thanks to a Stutzle pass on the power play. Off to the side, he tried to get the puck in front, but Danish defender Oliver Lauridsen kicked it into his own net. Good luck for Germany, bad luck for the Danes.

Denmark's best chance of the third came when Frederik Storm had a point-blank shot, but Grubauer kicked out the left pad to maintain the German lead. Later, Draisaitl had a clear break but was stopped by Andersen. Coach Mikael Gath pulled Andersen with nearly four minutes remaining, but despite good puck possession they managed few decent scoring chances to rally.