Germany kickstarted its World Championship with an important 6-1 win over Korea
this afternoon in Herning. The win, the team's first in four games, puts Germany in fifth place in Group B standings, ahead of Norway, Denmark, and winless Korea (0-4).

"We didn't have the start we wanted in the tournament, so we knew we had to get
three points today," said goalie Niklas Treutle, who stopped 25 of 26 shots for
the victory. "We played well as a team, more disciplined, and we used our speed."

The loss leaves Korea in dire straits as it tries to avoid relegation. It will have to beat one of Denmark or Norway and hope that that team doesn't secure further points in the standings between now and then. In short, it's not looking good right now for the newly-promoted 2018 Olympics hosts.

Germany scored two power-play goals to take the lead and keep it as Korea, with
a 2-29 goal difference, once again couldn't put a puck in the net.

"We played with a lot of patience," said Matthias Plachta. "We knew going into the game they battle hard in their zone, but our power play worked well for us."

Indeed, Germany scored three times with the extra man, a fact that frustrated Korea to no end. "We seemed to start off pretty well," said Korea's lone scorer, Brock Radunske. "But they're a good team, and we end up taking a penalty and they score, you feel the air come out of the sails on the bench. But it's our job to re-group. We're professionals."

The Germans got the only goal of the opening period at 10:02 by taking quick advantage of a power play. They won the faceoff, and after a few quick passes Leon Draisaitl snapped a shot the hit one Korean defenceman's stick and another's leg before dribbling past Matt Dalton after only seven seconds with the advantage.

The hit of the period unquestionably belonged to Korea's captain Woosang Park who caught German defenceman Jonas Muller with his head down behind the goal. Park drove his shoulder into the body of the unsuspecting German who took a hard fall but didn't miss a shift.

The Germans made it 2-0 just 41 seconds into the middle period on another power
play. This time it was Yasin Ehliz, who knocked in a loose puck from the blue ice as he was falling.

They added to their lead midway through when Patrick Hager's long shot found its way through traffic and Dalton without his stick.

They got a fourth goal before the end of the period. Marc Michaelis threw the puck at the goal from a bad angle, and Frederik Tiffels pushed the rebound over
the goal line.

Ehliz added another goal midway through the third when he wired a shot past the
beleaguered Dalton from the slot, and Yannic Seidenberg added another on the power play a little while later.
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The Koreans got their second goal of the tournament courtesy of a late power play. Brock Radunske went to the net off the faceoff and swipped the puck between the pads of an unsuspecting Niklas Treutle to make it a 6-1 game.

Korea now has a one-day break before playing the United States on Friday. Germany has two days off, playing Latvia on Saturday.

"We've played a lot of hockey, so we're happy to get any break we can," Plachta
suggested. We have some big games coming up where we think we can get some points, so it's important to get some rest."

ANDREW PODNIEKS

http://https://www.new-iihf.com/en/events/2018/wm/news/2630/germany-gets-first-win
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