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Regin reigns in OT

Denmark rallies from 0-2 to win it

Published 12.05.2017 23:08 GMT+2 | Author Andy Potts
Regin reigns in OT
COLOGNE, GERMANY - MAY 12: Denmark players bench and fans celebrate after a first period goal against Germany during preliminary round action at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
An overtime goal from Peter Regin gives Denmark a dramatic victory over Germany after a 2-2 tie in Cologne.

Denmark battled back from two goals down to stun Germany in overtime, dealing a blow to the host nation's hopes of progressing to the quarter-final.

Peter Regin got the vital goal, 1:40 into the extras, when he supplied a five-hole finish beyond Danny aus den Birken off a delightful Nikolaj Ehlers feed.

"I lost the face-off and for the next minute and a half I don't think we saw the puck," Regin said after the game. "We were extremely tired but Nik Ehler is one of the fastest skaters in the world and he somehow created a two-on-one for us and I was lucky to get a break and put it five hole and it went in."

To make defeat even more painful for Germany, it was inches away from snatching the win itself moments earlier. Danish goalie Sebastian Dahm flung himself to his right to beat away a testing effort; play switched to the other end of the ice and Regin wrapped up the win.

Oliver Lauridson picked out Dahm's save as the turning point. "They were cycling the puck and as soon as Dahm made the save they were thinking 'change'," he said. "Suddenly we had a couple forwards who were off to the races. That’s how 3-on-3 goes. It could look like one team is dominating it and all of a sudden it is an odd man rush the other way. Tonight that went our way."

The defeat leaves Germany on six points, three adrift of fourth-placed Latvia but having played a game more. Tuesday's meeting between the Latvians and the host is shaping up to be a showdown.

For Felix Schutz, the battle will continue - aided by the upcoming arrival of Leon Draisaitl. "At the end of the day it is about points. Leon will help us a lot," Schutz said. "He had an incredible year in the NHL for such a young player. He’s the best German player we’ve ever had. He’s going to give us some offense and on the power play."

Everything started so well for the Germans. A lively home crowd got behind the team from the get-go, and  was rewarded with two goals in little over a minute midway through the first period. First Patrick Reimer did enough to screen Sebastian Dahm as Yasin Ehliz fired in a shot, and as the puck looped up Reimer put it away with something approaching a baseball swing.

Then Yannic Seidenberg got away down the right and fizzed a cross-ice pass from the boards for Brooks Macek to score from close range. With 10 minutes gone, Germany was looking good and the arena was responding with plenty of noise. But it took less than a minute for the home team to go from complete control to almost total disarray.

Denmark pulled a goal back on 16:09 when Frederik Storm reacted fastest to the rebound of a sot from Emil Kristenson. There was concern about a possible kicking motion, but the video review gave it the all clear.

Then, just 25 seconds later, the Danes were level. There didn’t seem to be much danger when Mads Christensen swung the puck in from the boards, but aus den Birken offered up a big rebound and Morten Poulsen gobbled it up.

A combination between Nichlas Hardt and Julian Jakobsen almost split Germany open once again before the intermission, and aus den Birken was left clinging on to deny Christensen as the host staggered woozily into the intermission with the scores tied.

The middle stanza was all about power plays. Germany had two in quick succession, giving it a chance to regain the momentum it lost at the end of the first period. But the home team seemed nervous, frequently snatching at its chances. Macek was guilty of a particularly big miss after a slapshot deflected into his path, before Dominik Kahun forced a good sliding save from Dahm when he shot from the right-hand circle.

Then Denmark got its chance, including a long spell of 5-on-3 play. There was more composure here, but still no goal: Patrick Russell fired wide with the best shooting chance for the Danes.

Germany had the better of the final frame, but could not find the killer touch in front of the net. Early on, Matthias Plachta fed Schutz but the much-travelled forward steered the puck wide of the mark. Then, as time began to run out, Dahm delivered a big save to deny Marcus Kink and defenceman Frank Hordler threatened to become an unlikely hero with an astonishing solo rush that ultimately drew a penalty.

That power play came to nothing, but there was still time for one last big save from Dahm in regulation, grabbing hold of a Reimer attempt with six seconds left to play. The drama continued as Oliver Lauridsen and David Wolf picked up roughing penalties in the final second after disagreeing about Danish tactics at the subsequent face-off and the game moved to overtime.

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