In normal best-on-best play, Germany is an opponent that the U.S. has to beat, but a strong year for the Germans and a young roster for the U.S. resulted in disaster for last year’s bronze medal winners at the World Championship on Sunday.
With the game tied 2-2 and just 35 seconds left, a flippant wrist shot by German defenseman Korbinian Holzer fooled Mike Condon and gave the Germans a win. It was not only an exciting upset for the Germans, it catapulted them into third place in Group B, passing the Americans, who could miss the medal round if they don’t beat Slovakia in their next contest.
Here’s the Holzer goal that left Team USA hanging their heads.
This puck has eyes. Watch as Korbinian Holzer puts the game-winning shot into the back of the net for @DEB_eV! pic.twitter.com/qObfZt1opV
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2016
That was Holzer’s first point of the tournament and just his seventh shot in six games. It’ll prove to be an important one, helping Germany work their way into medal contention.
The win is the first time Germany has beat the U.S. in regulation in 23 years.