After seeing Canada through to the final of the World Championship earlier today, it was the turn of the Americans and Germans to contest the second semi-final to determine which of the two teams would have the chance to face André Tourigny’s team in the grand final.
The Americans quickly took a 2-0 lead in the match, but the Germans could not be counted out too quickly.
Late in the first, Maksymilian Szuber scored his side’s second to make it 2-2.
WE’RE ALL TIED UP!
Maksymilian Szuber evens it out for Germany.#IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/bakzwHTGq5
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 27, 2023
The Americans then regained the lead, but once again, the Germans weren’t about to give up.
With less than a minute left in the game, Marcel Noebels found the back of the net to force overtime.
GERMANY TIES IT UP WITH JUST OVER A MINUTE TO PLAY! #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/ZyvPMZ0LNm
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 27, 2023
And that’s when the game got particularly interesting for CH fans.
On the American side, we’re obviously keeping a close eye on young Lane Hutson, who is one of the club’s top prospects. The diminutive defenseman is blessed with outstanding offensive skills and has all the makings of a future quarterback on the team’s power play.
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And once again today, he proved it. With both teams playing with three players (overtime is played 3-on-3), Hutson took possession of the disc by entering the opponent’s zone.
The result? He danced for no less than 15 seconds without the German players being able to do anything to take the disc from him.
Here is Lane Hutson just messing with the Germans. #IIHFworlds pic.twitter.com/v2VQLy4S7v
– Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 27, 2023
Clearly, when he has space, Hutson is capable of putting himself on the map. He makes short work of the German defense on the sequence and does just about everything but score the winning goal.
But let’s talk about the winning goal.
Once again, Hutson was on the ice for this one, but this time he looked much worse. Frederik Tiffels made a mockery of his defensive coverage on a replay in his zone, and then scored the winning goal.
To everyone’s surprise, the Germans beat the Americans 4-3 to advance to the final.
GERMANY WINS IT IN OT, THEY WILL PLAY FOR GOLD! pic.twitter.com/TclhkbJhOm
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 27, 2023
Obviously, this is a situation to which he’s a little more vulnerable. He may be an excellent player in the opposing zone, but his defensive game still needs some fine-tuning. The good news is that he’ll be spending another year in the NCAA working on this.
It’s a shame, then, but at least he’ll have demonstrated the extent of his talent in the offensive zone during this same overtime period. And that makes for a great story for the Germans.
In bursts
– The German bench was obviously ecstatic after the victory.
What a moment for Germany as they stun the USA at #IIHFWorlds
🎥: @IIHFHockey pic.twitter.com/a0FlhtArqX
– BarDown (@BarDown) May 27, 2023