MENU
Penalties: 5:2. PP goals: 0:2. SH goals: 0:1.
Referees: Pilný, Veselý – Lhotský, Thuma. Attendance: 514.
Photogallery
Report
Four goals in the first period sealed an important win for the USA over a struggling German team. The Americans went on to score in all three periods with Trevor Connelly scoring a hattrick and Will Zellers scoring twice in the nine-goal game. A sole goal for Germany, only their fourth in three games, meant they are now on a three-game losing streak and following yesterday’s result they are out of contention for the semi-finals.
The USA had a strong start with Connelly netting on the powerplay under two minutes into the game. The Americans went on to score three more in the remainder of the first period, including a shorthanded goal from Aidan Park, to take a commanding 4-0 lead as they headed off the ice for the first intermission. Germany had passages of promising play but were ultimately unable to breakdown a fluid and well-oiled defence.
Second-period action picked up right where the first period left off, with the USA being more active on the puck and Germany playing deep. Will Zellers found himself on the receiving end of a Colin Frank pass which he managed to tuck into the net to make the score 5-0 while Alex Bales fired in his side’s sixth goal of the game at the 37:29 marker.
Germany got their name on the board thanks to Nicolas Biggins who caught out an otherwise-perfect Heil with a shot from the blue line at the very end of the second frame.
The third period saw the USA add two more goals to their ever-extending lead, as Conelly completed his hattrick by signing his name under both.
The result keeps the USA’s hopes of making the semi-finals alive, but they will now be closely watching their fellow Group A rivals Czechia and Sweden to see if they make the cut or not.
Reactions
Luke Strand (USA): I'm happy about our display. It is not easy to play such game, but we had it under control. I think our players did a good job up front, we had an advantage there. Germany played us hard and bravely. Our goalkeepers did a great job.
Tobias Abstreiter (Germany): Some parts were good in our game, goalie played well, sometimes we made it too hard for ourselves. Our game has to be consistent, shift by shift, that's what we were missing. In the group, we had very good opponents. Like I said on day one, we have to learn from game to game. We are here to find some confidence and we need to find it for the last game of the torunament.