Impressive Third Period Pushes Germany to First Win in Prague – 03.12.2018

Germany was down by two goals against Latvia but came back in the third period, scored four goals and won 5–4 to get their first tournament victory.

It was a third game of the group stage for both teams and a tough battle in front of a noisy atmosphere in the O2 arena. The Latvians scored first as Toms Bitmanis ran along the boards towards the goal and netted a nifty top-corner. The Germans put themselves up on the board a few minutes later in a power-play but Latvia took the lead back and made it 2–1 in the last minute of the period.

Nearly halfway through the match the Latvians went up by two. But apart from this only scoring success, the second period was a period of goalies. Both of them made some really big saves and helped their teams, so the score stayed at 3–1 with Latvia in the lead after forty minutes.

The Germans entered the third period in a strong way, scored three beauties within five and a half minutes and turned the score to a 4–3 lead. The Latvians didn’t give up. They pushed their opponents and leveled the score three minutes before the end. But the last period was a fully German matter as they scored their fifth and game-deciding goal less than a minute later and won 5–4.