Canada and Germany will face off for gold at the men's World Championship. Canada held off Latvia while Germany pulled off a huge upset win against the USA.
One upset happened, and another was narrowly fended off in the 2023 IIHF men’s World Championship semifinals. In the end, Canada and Germany emerged winners and will play for gold, while Latvia and USA will face off for bronze.
After falling behind 2-0 to undefeated Team USA, Germany continued to focus on their team approach and fought back to claim a stunning 4-3 overtime victory.
Alex Tuch and Rocco Grimaldi got the USA out to an early lead in the opening four minutes of the game. On the power play, Germany’s hero of the day, Frederik Tiffels, initiated the comeback. After trading goals, Germany remained down 3-2 late, pulling their goalie for the extra attacker. With their net empty, Marcel Noebels found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining to send the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Tiffels went 1-on-2 against a pair of American players, faking to the middle of the ice before pulling the puck outside and beating Casey DeSmith to send Germany to the gold medal game.
Playing in the biggest hockey game in the nation’s history, Latvia faced off against Canada in the 2023 IIHF semi-finals and gave the Canadians everything they could handle.
Dans Locmelis opened the scoring in the first period, banging home a rebound. The goal ignited the crowd in Finland, who were behind Latvia from the puck drop. Heading to the second period down a goal, Canada’s Sammy Blais one-timed a pass from Peyton Krebs, who had dangled through the defenders on the rush to tie the score at 1-1. Latvia, however, answered back a minute later when Rudolfs Balcers grabbed a turnover in the neutral zone, dragged around a Canadian defender and cleanly beat netminder Samuel Montembeault with a wrister to put Latvia back ahead 2-1.
Following Latvia’s goal, Canada came alive, outshooting their opponents 16-6 in the second, but Latvian netminder Arturs Silovs was magical between the pipes, keeping his team’s hopes alive.
Only 45 seconds into the third, Jack Quinn equalized the score, continuing the momentum shift toward Canada. Nearing the midway point of the third, 2023 NHL draft prospect Adam Fantilli undressed a Latvian defender with a beautiful move before beating Silovs to give Canada a 3-2 lead.
Scott Laughton scored an empty-netter to give Canada an insurance goal late, sending the Canadians to a gold medal game appearance with a 4-2 win.
Team Latvia and Team USA are scheduled to battle for bronze at 8:20 a.m. ET. The main event is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. ET, with one win separating two teams from a gold medal.
Gold Medal Preview: Canada vs. Germany
Germany has beaten first place USA from Group A, and they beat Group B’s top finisher Switzerland in the quarterfinals. All that stands between the Germans and their first World Championship gold medal in history is Canada. While Canada is set to play for gold, they’ve looked anything but dominant despite fielding the largest NHL contingent in the tournament.
J.J. Peterka, Nico Sturm, Dominik Kahun, Marcel Noebels and Frederik Tiffels have shown consistent scoring up front for Germany, while Moritz Seider and Kai Wissmann have anchored the blueline. In net, Mathias Niederberger has punched above his weight class all tournament, giving Germany a chance to win every game.
Canada continues to find ways to win despite several players who entered the tournament expected to dominate remaining quiet. The duo of Tyler Toffoli and Lawson Crouse have provided the most consistent scoring for Canada, and they’ll need these veterans to step up against a German team that appears to feel no intimidation against the on-paper favored teams.
A gold medal for Germany would be the first in the nation’s history. They’re guaranteed silver, the first silver at the men's World Championship since West Germany played for gold in 1953.