The German national team made it to the final of the Ice Hockey World Cup in Finland with a 4-3 win after extra time against the USA. After a real battle of nerves in the semi-final, Frederik Tiffels redeemed the Germans Fans with his overtime goal in the 68th minute. Other goal scorers were Maksymilian Szuber and Marcel Noebels, who made up for two deficits.
The game started in a very bad way for that DEB-Team. After 71 seconds played, Alex Tuch scored the 1-0 for the USA. Shortly afterwards, the USA coldly took advantage of a mistake in the German structure. Rocco Grimaldi got the puck in free flow and was able to make it 2-0 (4th) with a perfect slap shot. After the first phase of pressure from the Americans, the German national team gained its first offensive scenes. When Patrick Brown had to go to the penalty box for two minutes, the German power play snapped: Daniel Fischbuch broke away from the opponent and fired from the slot at the goal. Frederik Tiffels deflected the shot and made it 2-1 (13th). In the 17th minute, Maksymilian Szuber's shot went straight into the corner to make it 2-2.
After the break it worked DEBteam went into the second period with a power play and was able to take control of the game. However, national coach Harold Kreis' team was denied a goal. In the 25th minute, luck was on the German side. The puck danced down the goal line after a shot from Lane Hutson. The decision on the ice was initially for goal, but this was revoked after video evidence. A shot from Fabio Wagner in the 27th minute was the biggest opportunity for the German lead. However, Casey DeSmith parried the shot, which was deflected by a US defender, with a strong save. The Americans then took the lead and were able to establish themselves in the German third with a renewed period of pressure. Michael Eyssimont then pushed the disc over the line at the short corner to make it 3-2 (29th). The first outnumbered game survived that DEBteam without allowing a significant chance for the USA. At the end of the period, Germany pressed on the US goal again, but was unable to score.
At the beginning of the final third, the Americans had more of the game again and tried to extend their lead. Mathias Niederberger, who was named best player after the game, was able to defuse all possibilities. After 46 minutes, the German team got better into the attacking third and narrowly missed the equalizer thanks to chances from Dominik Kahun, Marcel Noebels and Makysmilian Szuber. Jonas Müller had the best chance in the 55th minute with a shot against the crossbar. In the last minute, Mathias Niederberger left his goal, so that DEB-Team could play with one more man. Marcel Noebels was spot on and made it 3-3 (59').
The following 3-on-3 overtime developed into a real thriller, in which the Americans had more offensive shares overall. In the 68th minute, Frederik Tiffels redeemed the team with a fantastic goal and thus secured the ticket for the World Cup final!