Daniel Bonner
Trailing 3-0 after the first period, the Germans knew they would need a strong second frame if they wanted to comeback against Team Sweden. A penalty against the Swedes in the first minute allowed the Germans to build some momentum and really carry the bulk of the play to start the second period. That was short-lived, however, as Sweden’s Joakim Lindstrom capitalized on a German slip up to eliminate any possibility of a comeback.
Shortly after a penalty to teammate Patrik Baarnhielm had expired, a bad German line change allowed Mattias Beck to land a long lead pass to Lindstrom, sending him in on a breakaway. “With the score the way it was I felt confident in trying something a little different,” said Lindstrom of his goal. Different is one way to describe it, but the 10,300 fans in attendance may be more likely to choose breathtaking as a better description. Fast approaching the net, Lindstrom waited for German goaltender Dimitri Patzold to commit low, at which point Lindstrom drew the puck behind himself and flipped it over Patzold’s shoulder on the far side of Lindstrom. “It was something I have tried in practice quite a bit, but I never really had a great opportunity to try it out in a game situation. In the end, it worked out just as I would have liked.” The fans liked the play as well, gasping at the sight of the replay on the giant screen at the Metro Centre.
German coach Ernst Hofner looked back at the goal as the one that demoralized his club beyond repair. “We came out with something to prove in the second period. We did not have a good first period, and we felt we owed it to everyone that was cheering for us to play the way we could in the second period. We started well, but after the goal by Lindstrom we fell right back into the same kind of play that hurt us in the first.