VANCOUVER — The Germans will be looking for their own Miracle on Ice against Canada Tuesday.
German forward Marco Sturm, one of a half-dozen NHLers on the German roster, knows that’s what it will probably take to oust Canada in their elimination game.
“They’re pissed off, obviously, and they want to win. They want to go for gold. They’re not going to mess around. We’ve got to be ready for them. It’ll be a miracle,” said Sturm.
“Our goalie has got to be unbelievable. Those chances we have, we’ve just got to make sure they go in. I think that was the big difference against Sweden, we had a 5-on-3 and should have scored, but it went back the other way,
“Everything has to be perfect to beat these guys, but we’ve got to be realistic. We are big underdogs.”
The winner of Tuesday’s game advances to Wednesday’s quarterfinal against the Russians.
The Germans went winless in their three preliminary round games, getting outscored 12-3 and were ranked 11th of the 12 teams, though they did play Sweden tough, losing 2-0. Their penalty killing was last at just 60%, giving up six goals on just 15 chances.
“We’ve had some struggles with our penalty kill and we need to figure that out. We’ve got a lot scoring chances. That wasn’t the problem. We just have to try and bury them. They have four strong lines and they’re loaded with NHL superstars. I don’t think it matters who plays against who,” said defenceman Christian Erhoff, the Vancouver Canuck playing in his own barn.
“There’s no pressure on our team and it’s the total opposite from the pressure that’s on Canada.”
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca
