“Germany to face Canada in Hockey World Championship Final after win over USA”

Tampere (Finland) – Canada will be challenged by the German team in the final of the hockey world championship. The Germans secured their place in Sunday’s duel for gold – and also a medal from the World Cup after 70 long years – with today’s semi-final win in Tampere over the Americans 4:3 in overtime. Already in the afternoon, the Canadians beat Latvia 4:2 in the first semi-final match.

Canada is in the World Cup finals for the fourth time in a row

The Canadian ice hockey players beat Latvia 4:2 in the semifinals of the World Championship in Tampere and will be attacking for the 28th title. Coach André Tourigny’s team lost twice, but in the end they celebrated their fourth consecutive promotion to the final. They last triumphed the year before last in Riga. Eighteen-year-old forward Adam Fantilli scored the winning goal at 48:56, and 43 seconds before the end, Scott Laughton confirmed the win in an empty net on the power play.

The Canadians will compete against Germany for the gold on Sunday at 19:20 CET. The Latvians, whose highest so far were 7th places in 1997, 2004 and 2009, will fight for a historic medal with the United States of America from 14:20.

“On Thursday (against Finland) we didn’t give the fans a chance to get fired up, but today the Latvians led twice and had the fans at their back. “We knew we had to be patient. There was no reason to be nervous. We were shooting, we were going to the goal and that’s what turned it around,” Canadian defenseman Tyler Myers told the IIHF website.

Canadian defender Justin Barron got the first chance in the 2nd minute, who did not beat Arturs Šilovs from the position between the circles. The Latvian goalkeeper also managed to deal with Jack Quinn’s attempt and Scott Laughton’s shot from the turn.

At 8:18 a.m., the Latvians were rejoicing in the lead, and even after the move from Riga, the Nokia Arena, thanks to the large number of fans, had an almost home environment again. After Kristaps Zile’s shot from the blue line from the first stop, Rihards Bukarts has not yet beaten Samuel Montembeault, but Dans Ločmelis has already succeeded from the second.

Halfway through the opening half, captain Tyler Toffoli had a chance to equalize, hitting the right post with a backhand shot. Miks Indrašis could have increased the score before the first break, whose first attempt was deflected by the Canadian goalkeeper and the second narrowly missed the goal.

At the beginning of the second half, the Canadians offered the Latvians the first power play of the game with a bad substitution, and after an illegal interception by Pierre-Olivier Joseph, they had to defend themselves for 58 seconds in three against five. The Latvians defended themselves from a Rihards Bukarts penalty and in the middle of the game, Deniss Smirnovs missed from a good position from the left circle. In the 32nd minute, when Rodrigo Abols was sent off, the right stick helped Šilovs after Fantilli’s shot.

After a series of eliminations, the situation did not change. Canada equalized in the 36th minute. After a pass from Peyton Krebs, Sammy Blais hit a bouncing puck from the right circle right into the opposite upper corner of the goal.

In 66 seconds the Latvians were leading again. Rudolfs Bukarts broke free through MacKenzie Weegar and beat Montembeault with a shot to the catcher. Before the second break, the Latvian goalkeeper dealt with Toffoli’s blow after pressure from Canada.

After 45 seconds of the final part, Jack Quinn erased the loss, sending the puck over Šilovs’ mask and into the goal from a negative angle. Canada got a turnaround in the 49th minute, when Fantilli tricked defender Ralfs Freibergs between the circles and sent his team into the lead 3:2 with a shot on the catcher.

“I got a pass from (Milan) Lucic, it was between the circles in a one-on-one situation. I was trying to indicate the movement and get into a shooting position. It fell there and I’m very happy about it,” Fantilli said. The predicted number two of the June NHL draft was happy about the first goal of the tournament.

Less than three minutes before the end, the Latvians’ hopes of an equalizer were reduced by the sent off Oskars Batna. In the power play, Michael Carcone had the chance to secure the Canadian win. It was only possible in the power play for Laughton, who hit an empty net from his own defensive zone.

“I’m sure if we had played the semi-final in Riga, it would have been a completely different game. But there was a good atmosphere here too. A lot of fans came and tried to support us. We’ll try to finish it tomorrow. It’s the last game of the season, we’ll give it everything and we’ll see,” said goalkeeper Šilovs.

The Germans turned the duel with the Americans

The Germans will play in the final for the first time in modern history. The USA selection failed in the semifinals for the third time in a row and for the twelfth time overall since the introduction of the playoff system. This overseas power has not yet played a match for gold.

The Americans got into a blockbuster right from the start, when they already led 2:0 in the fourth minute. The Germans managed to equalize before the first break. In the second period, Michael Eyssimont returned the lead to the unbeaten USA team. For a long time it seemed that his goal would be the winner, but Marcel Noebels equalized 83 seconds before the end of regular time. Frederik Tiffels scored the second goal of the day at 67:32. Dominik Kahun scored the third assist in the match for his goal.

“We knew we needed one shot. That one shot could be enough to win. And then one really came. It was a golden goal. We’re so happy to win today. We’re having an unbelievable moment right now. I’m speechless. But I’m very proud,” German forward Maximilian Kastner said in an interview for the International Ice Hockey Federation website.

Favored Team USA got off to a great start. Just after 71 seconds, Tuch cleared the puck from close range into the goal after an excellent pass by O’Connor. At the end of the fourth minute, Grimaldi went up with a full drive bomb as he hung from the circle. But the Germans, whose self-confidence was significantly strengthened by a series of five wins after the first three appearances at the tournament, in which they did not score at all, did not give up even a hint.

In the middle of the 11th minute, Brown also helped them with a foul. Seider didn’t convert his chance yet, but then fired from a position between the Fischbuch circles and the blocking Tiffels sent Brown back into the game early. At the beginning of the 17th minute, Szuber kept his cool in a good position and equalized with the stick.

In the second period, Seider tried his luck from the corner, the stick saved the Americans. Tuch was alone in front of the goalkeeper, but the puck escaped him. Right after that, the overseas team was outnumbered four to three, Grimaldi recorded, Kahun knocked the puck behind Niederberger’s back with his stick, but although the referees recognized the goal and the Americans celebrated their regained lead, after checking the video, everything was different – the puck did not cross the goal line.

Then Wagner fired dangerously. In the end, it was the Americans who won the tug-of-war for the leading goal, although the returnee to the Eyssimont line-up only succeeded on the fourth attempt: the first time he was caught by the goalkeeper, then he hit the bottom arc of the goal on the finish, then Niederberger’s trap stopped him, but his emphasis after that was successful.

The beginning of the third part was marked by the increased activity of the German team in the offensive. In the 46th minute, a quick backhand pass from Tiffels found Kahuna, who immediately fired from a good position, but DeSmith was ready.

Kastner had another opportunity. Jonas Müller hit the crossbar after Peterko’s pass. In the 58th minute, Grimaldi had the decision on the stick, but Niederberger caught him. Moments later, Sturm burned a promising chance on the other end.

The Germans then decided to play without a goalkeeper about 100 seconds before the end of regular time, and the risk quickly paid off for them. At 58:37, Noebels equalized after a jam in DeSmith’s goal area when he cleared the puck into the open goal after Gawanke’s shot and Kahun’s work in front of DeSmith.

“They played well. They got to the stops and then all of a sudden there was an empty net in front of one of the players,” described Losers’ goalkeeper Casey DeSmith.

The Americans were significantly more active in overtime, but Niederberger kept his hopes of a sensational advance to the finals. After Tiffels’ attempt, however, DeSmith was lucky as the puck landed behind his back on the top netting of the goal. At the next chance, Tiffels already sent the German to the final with an exhibition blow in the top corner.

“Advancement to the final means something huge for us. It’s a really huge step for the whole of German hockey, it will bring us recognition in the media in our country and thanks to it, German hockey will grow again. Without a doubt, this is exactly what we needed,” said German forward Sam Soramies .

“It really hurts when you lose a match like that. I think we had a great tournament, but today we lost the lead at the end and lost the final. The bronze is not the medal we came for, but it’s still a nice award. And there were a lot of good teams here,” DeSmith said.

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