When it was all said and done, Connor Bedard had three goals, leading Canada to an 8-3 win. But that oversimplifies what a difficult first victory it was against a relentless German squad with a lively crowd behind them. The Canadians built up a 4-0 lead but saw it dwindle down to 4-3 – thanks to three points from Julian Lutz – before the momentum shifted back and Canada scored another four.
“They got a lot of momentum from the crowd – it was pretty loud in there – and they gave us a good game,” said Bedard. “They were playing pretty physical and we wanted to match that energy, and I think our whole team did that.”
“It was nice to get the 4-0 lead but then it was also nice to face some adversity,” said Canadian head coach Nolan Baumgartner. “The crowd got going, they got a couple goals, and we responded the right way. We killed off a couple penalties and went from there.”
“We told the players they should believe in themselves, regardless of what the scoreboard says,” German head coach Alexander Duck said about his team’s comeback attempt. “We’re still in the process of growing with every game and so that was good to see.”
The game got off to a thunderous start when Moritz Elias hammered Josh Filmon into the boards after just nine seconds elapsed. He was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking to the head and neck area.
“A little bit over-motivated,” Duck said about how Elias charged out of the gate like a bull. “Maybe that was a bit my fault. I talked to him a bit yesterday because he didn’t show up and I told him he’s gotta be better and show a bit more on the ice. He tried to do the right thing but he overdid it.”
Giving Canada a five-minute power play right off the bat could have been disastrous for the Germans, but they managed to kill it off, much to the appreciation of the home fans, and arguably got the best chance when local boy Veit Oswald got a partial breakaway but was unable to beat Lalonde, with Nick Moldenhauer preventing him from cutting inside.
“It’s always a good feeling to hear the fans here and I want to thank them because they always support me, also during the season here in Landshut,” said Oswald, who finished the game with two assists. “It’s a very special feeling to play here at home in this World Championship.”
For the most part, however, play was in the German zone and Canada was able to strike twice in the eighth minute of play. In fact, it was the same line striking twice on the same shift.
First it was Grayden Steipmann ripping a shot from the high slot that beat Dietl while David Goyette provided a screen in front. Then 24 seconds later it was Goyette taking a feed from Rieger Lorenz in the neutral zone and scoring off the rush, firing a high wrister that quickly went in and out off the back crossbar.
“On the pre-scout, we realized they like to collapse when we get the puck in the zone, so I found two guys that were up top trailing and we capitalized,” said Lorenz, who finished the game with two assists.
Early in the second period, the Germans got into penalty trouble and it cost them. They killed the first one off but then after Jakob Weber was sent off for holding at 23:57, it took the Canadian power play only 39 seconds to strike.
Adam Fantilli made a perfect cross-ice pass to Bedard, who wasn’t going to miss on the one-timer. Then just 46 seconds later it was 4-0, with Brayden Schurmann electing to shoot on the 2-on-1.
“Schurmann made a good neutral-zone play, came in and made a nice shot,” said Lorenz, who was with him on the rush.
And it looked like the rout was on, as they kept coming. Just 18 seconds later they put the puck in the net again but the goal was called back due to goaltender interference.
With 8:02 to play in the middle frame, Lutz got Germany on the board right off an attacking-zone faceoff, when he one-timed a pass from Oswald through a crowd and a screened Lalonde.
The building was a live. And for the rest of the second period, it was all Germany.
They made it 4-2 on the power play. With the Germans pressing hard, Lalonde stopped the initial shot from Lutz, but Roman Kechter was right there to put in the rebound.
“I think the power play worked today,” said Lutz. “We had a set play from the faceoff and it worked. Just details we’ve worked on since training camp clicked and we scored a couple goals.”
In the last two minutes, Canada was penalized twice more. First, Spencer Sova was assessed a match penalty for checking Ralf Rollinger from behind into the end boards. Then Filmon was sent off for tripping, giving Germany a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes, which was broken up by the second intermission.
Except it wasn’t a full two minutes. Just 25 seconds into the third period, the Germans came to within one with Rayan Bettahar setting up another Lutz one-timer.
“We knew they were going to be a good team,” said Lorenz. “After last game, we had something to prove to ourselves and to everyone else, and I think we did just that so I’m proud of our group right now.”
Minutes later, the Canadians went back up by two on a power play of their own, with Bedard finishing off a strange give-and-go with Fantilli, with the puck only going back to Bedard after Fantilli fanned on the one-time attempt.
“I wanted him to shoot the whole time I gave it to him but he whiffed on it but then he made a beautiful pass right on my tape,” said Bedard. “I kinda thought I missed it at first, but was fortunate it went in.”
Just 1:13 later, Bedard completed his hat trick, ripping a shot over Dietl’s glove and then asked for silence from the German bench and fans, lifting his gloved index finger to his face.
“Taking penalties isn’t a good thing and 5-on-3 there’s a good chance they’ll score, but I think we really showed our mental toughness to be able to weather that storm and have a good third,” said Bedard.
The Germans thought they’d gotten one back at 45:28, but replays showed that the shot went off both posts but never crossed the goal line. And just 31 seconds later, Matthew Wood made it 7-3, erasing whatever doubt remained about the outcome.
Kalem Parker with a late power-play marker rounded out the scoring.
“There were some penalties we shouldn’t have taken and they scored some goals,” said Lutz. “Today we played two periods of good hockey. Yesterday we played one period, so next game we’re gonna play three good periods.”
“We knew they were going to be a good team,” said Lorenz. “After last game, we had something to prove to ourselves and to everyone else, and I think we did just that so I’m proud of our group right now.”
