The U.S. squandered a three-goal first-period lead but kept on fighting to earn a 6-3 victory over Germany in Group B action at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Assistant captain Conor Garland got the go-ahead power play goal early in the third period.
Giving up big leads has become an troublesome habit for this year's U.S. team. In Wednesday's 6-5 overtime win over Norway, they were up 5-1 before the Nordic underdogs fougnt back in stunning fashion.
Garland and captain Clayton Keller totalled a goal and two assists apiece. Tage Thompson, Frank Nazar, Drew O’Connor and Logan Cooley also scored for coach Ryan Warsofsky's Americans.
"They're a good team," Thompson said. "They work hard. They've got a lot of skill, and I think we knew that. And obviously, when we were up three, they made a solid push back and got us on our heels a little bit. I think we did a good job staying calm."
Eric Mik, Jonas Muller, and Wojciech Stachowiak replied for Germany. Coach Harald Kreis and his men have dropped two straight games, including a 5-1 loss to 2024 silver medalist Switzerland, after kicking off the tournament with three wins.
"The first period was terrible from our side," said Germany's Dominik Kahun. "We weren't ready. Somehow we have to look at what it was. The Americans came out hard, and we had no chance, to be honest. Later we talked about it, and we showed some heart and came back into the game. So maybe that's even more unfortunate that we lost the game, because we came into the third period really confident. Unfortunately we spent a lot of time in the penalty box and that changed the game."
In net, it was a duel between two goaltenders who have shared duties with the Seattle Kraken since 2021-22, with the U.S.’s Joey Daccord facing Germany’s Philipp Grubauer. However, Grubauer pulled himself early in the third period after apparently straining himself and was replaced by Mathias Niederberger for about six minutes. The NHL veteran stayed in goal the rest of the way.
Final shots favoured the U.S. 44-21.
"I'm really grateful and appreciative to USA Hockey for giving me this opportunity, and I'm just trying to do my best to help the team win," said Daccord, who posted his second win of the tournament.
Despite the recent addition of Ottawa Senators star Tim Stutzle, the Germans had question marks about their offensive punch. Chicago Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel is sidelined for the rest of the tournament with an undisclosed injury. Blueliner Lukas Kalble, an Adler Mannheim veteran who had two goals and two assists through four games in Herning, was also out versus the Americans.
The U.S. got off to a nice start at 1:42 with a power play goal with German captain Moritz Seider off for roughing. Top defenceman Zach Werenski found Thompson in the left faceoff circle, and his shot flew through the legs of German defender Fabio Wagner and beat Grubauer high to the glove side.
"Good power play set-up, just quick puck movement, and I had some time to walk in and shoot and kind of use their D as a screen," said Thompson. "I don't think their goalie could see it."
It was the fourth goal of this Ice Hockey World Championship for the towering Buffalo Sabres forward, who scored a hat trick, including the overtime winner, in Wednesday’s 6-5 victory over Norway.
The Americans doubled their lead at 9:43. Skating powerfully, Cutter Gauthier cut left around German defenders and centered the puck to Nazar, who was driving to the net and saw it deflect in off his skate.
Germany struggled to create opportunities. Justin Schutz had a near-breakaway past the 13-minute mark, but defenceman Jackson Lacombe’s savvy backchecking broke it up.
A powerful Thompson shot off the rush led to the 3-0 U.S. goal at 14:17, as Grubauer gave up a juicy rebound off his blocker and O’Connor was there to slam it into the gaping cage.
The hockey gods didn't seem to be favouring Germany here. Off an early second-period faceoff in the U.S. zone, Kahun rang a shot off the iron. But things soon took a better turn for Deutschland.
At 8:31, Mik cut the deficit to 3-1. Just after a roughing penalty to Cooley had expired, the Eisbaren Berlin attacker took a backhanded pass from Joshua Samanski at the blue line and surprised the U.S. defenders with his speed, bursting in to beat Daccord high on the stick side.
The Germans scored goals 48 seconds apart to knot up the score. First, Muller was allowed to cruise down the middle of the ice after getting the puck from Kahun in the U.S. zone and made no mistake with his high shot at 14:43.
It took just 16 seconds into a Matty Beniers minor for Stachowiak to knot it up with the man advantage at 15:31. But the wind in Germany's sails wouldn't last.
At 4:50 of the third period, Garland restored the U.S/. lead on the man advantage. It started with a nice play by Werenski to keep the puck onside at the blue line. Keller stickhandled craftily before setting up Garland for a laser one-timer from the hash marks.
Of the Keller line's prowess, Thompson said: "It's great. Those guys have a lot of hockey sense, a lot of skill, and all three of them have been working really well together."
The Germans strove hard to find the equalizer, but another comeback wasn't in the cards. Off an American forecheck, Cooley finished off a slick passing play involving Keller and Garland to make it 5-3 at 16:31. Keller added an empty-netter at 18:07.
Coming up next, the U.S. faces Kazakhstan on Sunday, while Germany takes on the defending champion Czechs on Monday.
Thompson talked about the key against the Kazakhs: "Puck management. I think we've done a good job jumping out and getting leads. When we've got our foot on the gas, it's about just not letting it off, continuing to play in the same way that's getting us results."
