The U.S. men’s hockey team squandered a late third period lead and lost its world championship semifinal to Germany in overtime, missing a chance to win its first gold or silver medal at worlds since 1950.
Germany won 4-3 on Frederik Tiffels‘ goal at the 7-minute, 32-second mark of overtime. Marcel Noebels had tied it with 1:23 left in regulation after Germany pulled goalie Mathias Niederberger.
Germany plays Canada in Sunday’s gold-medal game in Tampere, Finland.
Alex Tuch, Rocco Grimaldi and Michael Eyssimont scored for the U.S., which plays Latvia for bronze Sunday.
The U.S. has lost all 12 of its world championship semifinals since the IIHF reinstituted a bracketed playoff round in 1992.
Its last silver at worlds came in 1950. Its lone gold at a standalone worlds came in 1933.
The Americans won their first eight games at worlds before being stunned by Germany, which finished fourth in the group that the U.S. won.
This year’s U.S. team, which includes three 2022 Olympians, has zero players with NHL All-Star experience for the first time at worlds since 2010. In most years, there have been one or two players with All-Star experience while most choose rest after a seven-month NHL campaign or are still playing in the NHL playoffs.
Until Saturday, the U.S. thrived under San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn, who also coached the team at the 2022 Olympics (quarterfinals) and 2022 Worlds (fourth place). Before this year, the U.S. had never won more than six consecutive games to start a worlds.
NHL players didn’t participate at the last two Olympics but continue to be eligible for worlds and could return for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
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