Canada made it to the quarter-finals of the Ice Hockey World Cup after much trembling. The 26-time world champion suffered a 2:3 (1:0, 1:1, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1) defeat against defending champions Finland on Tuesday after a penalty shootout K2:1 advantaged. (2: 0, 0: 1, 0: 0) of the German national team against Latvia and meets world champion Russia in the last eight round.
Had the German game gone into extra time, the selection from the ice hockey homeland would have ended prematurely – and missed the quarter-finals for the first time in World Cup history. The USA won against Italy in Group B with a 4:2 (3:0, 1:1, 0:1), the US rift now facing Slovakia. Finland is in second place and faces Czech Republic in the semi-final battle. The quarter-finals will be held on Thursday.
Canada took the lead twice after goals from Brandon Pirie (2nd) and Maxime Comtois (29th). But Artu Rutslainen equalized every time (22./56.). Rutslainen also converted the decisive penalty.
German rival Switzerland closed the preliminary round with a 6:3 (2:1, 4:1, 0:1) against Great Britain. The Swiss, who had already qualified for the knockout round, finished second. Third place was the Czech Republic after 7:3 (2:0, 2:1, 3:2) against Slovakia.
