For a team that won only once in preliminaries, Germany's path to the semis isn't all that bumpy.
If you told Senators star winger Tim Stutzle that Team Germany would win only one game in the Olympic preliminary round, he'd probably assume his team would have a brutally difficult path to get to the medal round.
But despite doing just that, going 1-2 in the first round, Germany's path to the semifinals turned out to be France and Slovakia, two nations that both trailed Germany in the IIHF world rankings when the tournament began.
Germany took care of the first step, pounding France 5-1 in their Qualification Playoff game on Tuesday. Stutzle helped lead the charge with two assists in the game, both in the first period as Germany jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Stutzle now has 6 points in 4 games, tied for fourth overall in the tournament. His four goals have him in a three-way tie for the tournament lead with Macklin Celebrini and Denmark's Nick Olesen.
Fellow NHLers Leon Draisaitl and JJ Peterka both scored in Germany's three-goal first period as they advanced to face Slovakia on Wednesday. So Stutzle and company are one win away from the semis, which means a chance to eventually play for at least a bronze medal.
Let's be clear, the Slovaks will be no pushovers; they won Group B fair and square, powered by a tourney-opening upset win over Finland. But then Slovakia barely beat Italy 3-2, and then lost 5-3 to Sweden.
That was enough to tie Sweden and Finland with six points and claim first place through a three-way tiebreaker. Still, if you ask Germany, or any team in the tournament, which team they'd rather face in a win-or-go-home game, no one would say Finland or Sweden ahead of Slovakia.
After the loss to the Germans, France is now out, and you can also say goodbye to Italy and Denmark, which also lost their games on Tuesday. That means the end of the Olympic experience for Senators participants Lars Eller and Mads Sogaard.
The Danes lost a close one, 3-2 to Czechia, which will face Canada in the quarterfinals on Wednesday morning. With their win over Italy, Switzerland moves on to face Finland in the quarters. The Americans wait for the winner of Tuesday's last qualification playoff game, Sweden vs Latvia.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
