One surprise awaits another at the IIHF World Championship! Germany beat the United States 4-3 in overtime at the Nokia Arena on Saturday to join Canada in the final.
Frederick Dieffels scored the biggest goal of his career 7:32 later. Play in overtime. He beat Montreal Canadiens gem Lane Hudson and then his hard shot gave Casey DeSmith no chance.
So the Germans are participating in the IIHF World Finals for the first time in their history.
“We knew we only needed one shot,” forward Maximilian Kastner said after the scrimmage, according to the IIHF website. Hope you got it. It is a golden target. We are very happy to have won. It was an incredible moment.
“I’m done with the qualifiers. I’m really proud.”
Meanwhile, Hudson was dismissed from the scoresheet. He was particularly dangerous in extra time before the winning goal, but all his attempts were blocked.
Tough Germans
With 1 minute and 33 seconds. To run out in regulation time, Marcel Nobles forced overtime. Goalkeeper Matthias Niederberger was on the bench in favor of the sixth skater and the Germans applied sustained pressure around Desmyth’s goal. Their determination paid off when Nobles pounced on a throw return.
Speaking of perseverance, the Germans showed their character despite a rough start to the game.
Alex Dutch needed just 71 seconds to open the scoring. The Buffalo Sabers forward received the perfect pass from Drew O’Connor and didn’t waste his opportunity.
Small forward Rocco Grimaldi added minutes later with a hard slap shot.
However, the Germans tied the game before the end of the first period thanks to a power play goal by Daniel Fischbook and a try by Maximilian Szuber.
According to Hudson, the Americans deviated from their game plan during the series.
“I don’t think we rested at this point, but we let our style of play go for a couple of minutes,” he said. We got a few penalties and it was difficult to score after that.
A painful loss
Michael Isimont restored the lead for the Americans in the second period.
So the United States and Latvia will meet for the bronze medal on Sunday.
“The loss hurts,” admitted DeSmith, author of 22 saves. “I think we had a great match, but we lost our lead late in the game.
“We didn’t come here to win the bronze medal, but it’s still a great honor. There are a lot of good teams here.
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