The German underdogs gritted out a 4-3 overtime victory against Slovakia on Monday, earning their first win at the world junior hockey championships in Edmonton.
Ottawa Senators prospect Tim Stutzle burried two goals for the Germans, and helped set up Mario Zimmerman for the game winner on a power play four minutes into overtime.
Florian Elias also scored for Germany and Simon Gnyp registered three assists.
Michal Mrazik had two goals for Slovakia, and Oleksiy Mykluka rounded out the scoring.
Despite dressing just five defencemen and nine forwards, Germany outshot the Slovaks 32-25.
It’s been a difficult tournament for Germany. Nine players tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Edmonton, preventing the team from running a real practice until Christmas Day and leaving the squad short-handed for preliminary round games.
READ MORE: Germany dealing with multiple positive COVID-19 tests ahead of world juniors
After suffering a 16-2 drubbing at the hands of the Canadians on Saturday, Germany struck first against the Slovaks on Monday, with Stutzle finding the back of the net 5:39 into the first period. The third-overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft ended the game with 31:01 of ice time.
The two sides traded goals through the first and second frames, then played to a draw in the third, forcing extra time.
Mykluka was called for hooking 2:28 into overtime and with the clock ticking down, Zimmerman’s shot from the slot found its way through traffic and beat Slovak goalie Simon Latkoczy.
The result leaves Switzerland as the lone team without a win in Group A.
Slovakia will be back in action Wednesday when they take on Finland. Germany will face Switzerland later the same day.
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