The World Cup quarter-finals are almost upon us. - 8:1 Victory: We dominantly crush the Latvian opponents.
Yay, we're winning again!
Following the goal-filled show, the path to the quarter-finals has been cleared. Up next, we have matches against Kazakhstan (Friday), Poland (Saturday), and France (Tuesday) in the preliminary stage. Winning two of these matches should be enough.
NHL standout Sturm ready to go
Latvia has around 7,000 active ice hockey players. However, all of their national players are currently playing overseas, primarily in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Shockingly, Kristers Gudlevskis from third-place Pinguins Bremerhaven serves as Latvia's goalie instead of NHL star Elvis Merzlikins (Colorado). This decision by coach Harijs Vitolins is questionable.
Berlin standouts Leo Pföderl, Jonas Müller, Kai Wissmann, and Frederik Tiffels all know how to beat Latvia's keeper, as well.
Germany's lineup includes Nico Sturm (San Jose Sharks) recovering from an internal ligament injury and Maksy Szuber (Tucson Roadrunners) nursing a wrist injury. In net, we have Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken).
Germany's players, led by captain Moritz Müller and company, applied pressure from the initial whistle and justly scored the first goal through Dominik Kahun (SC Bern) at the 6th minute. Gudlevskis couldn't handle the puck, letting it bounce away.
Wissmann's wonder goal
Then, polar bear Kai set off on a thrilling run. Berlin's Kai Wissmann outpaced four opponents in overtime, scoring the go-ahead goal at 19:17 to make it 2-0. It was a breathtaking individual performance. Interestingly, Wissmann used to play as a forward before being shifted to defense in the Berlin junior team.
Another Cologne player, Parker Tuomie (23), scored Latvia's fourth goal at 21:08, bringing the score to 3-0.
Gudlevskis was replaced in goal for Latvia by Elvis Merzlikins (25). But Germany's JJ Peterka (Buffalo) extended the lead to 5-0 at 26:18, and Joonas Michaelis (powerplay) scored Germany's 6th goal at 31:09.
Germany's offensive train kept rolling, with JJ Peterka adding his second goal at 36:36 to make it 7-0. The NHL pro's penchant for scoring was unleashed.
One small blemish came from Latvia's Markus Komuls, who scored at 40:41 to make it 7-1. In the final period, Sturm got his chance, scoring Germany's 8th goal at 45:00, and the game ended 8-1.
A remarkable performance from last year's silver medalists in the highest victory margin in World Championship history over Latvia. If this trend continues, there are plenty of possibilities at these championships.
Check out all the games at the Ice Hockey World Championship 2024 live on Sportdeutschland.TV (ad)
Read also:
- Remaining contenders down to two in DFB's struggle versus Brazil.
- Schalke's Transfer Assessment: A Season of Wastefulness
- Shocking development in the NBA!
- Law enforcement agencies in various metropolises plan expansive measures for May 1.
Source: symclub.org
