The United States lost to the host country Germany 2-1 in the opening game of the World Cup preliminary round.
Judging from the highlights, which I am unable to post here, the first goal by the Germans was pretty much unstoppable by US goaltender Scott Clemmensen [Florida Panthers]. Unfortunately, the defense allowed the German player to get to the net instead of keeping him out to the walls, but that’s how it goes sometimes. The second German goal would’ve been called back had it been the NHL and not the IIHF. There was a German player clearly interfering with Clemmensen when that goal went in. The lone US goal was kicked in my the German goaltender himself, so that was a lucky break for the US. Ryan Carter [Anaheim Ducks] scored the goal for the US.
Penalties were even between the two teams. And all of the goals were even strength, from what I can tell. The US even outshot the Germans 32-20. TJ Galiardi had five shots on goal, while Jack Johnson [Los Angeles Kings], Keith Yandle [Phoenix Coyotes], and Ryan Potulny [Edmonton Oilers] had four shots each. Lightning player Mike Lundin had one shot on goal and was a -1 on the night.
Apparently, this was the first time that a German hockey team had beaten a US hockey team in 17 years at the World Championships.
The US and Germany are a part of Group C, which also includes Finland and Denmark. Their group is scheduled to play games in Cologne, with the exception of this opening game, which was played in Gelsenkirchen at the Veltins Arena, home to Bundesliga soccer club Schalke 04.
Because this game was played at a soccer field, they were able to break the previous world attendance record for a hockey game. The previous record was set at the Michigan-Michigan State outdoor Cold War game in Spartan Stadium in 2001, where they got 74,554 fans. That was the first outdoor game in modern times, and sparked off the NHL’s Winter Classic.
This game at Veltins Arena broke that record, as the attendance was 77, 803. This winter, that attendance record may be broken again as Michigan and Michigan State will be playing an outdoor game in Michigan Stadium, the Cold War II, and the Big House will seat 108,000 people after their current renovations are complete.
The US plays against Denmark next on Monday, 10 May. Game time is 12:15 pm Eastern. The full schedule, as well as results and rosters, for all of the teams can be found at IIHF.com under “Statistics”.
USA-Germany Recap [IIHF]
USA-Germany Boxscore [IIHF]
What hockey in front of 77,803 fans looks like in Germany [Puck Daddy]
