Ice hockey win

Germany's national ice hockey team grabbed a shock overtime victory against the United States on Friday. Germany won 2-1 in overtime during the opening game of the world championship in Gelsenkirchen.

"We saw a German team tonight that fought extremely hard," national team coach Uwe Krupp told reporters after the game. "And sometimes, hard work pays off."

Germany's Michael Wolf scored the first goal of the match in front of a noisy, record-breaking crowd of 77,803 fans at the Veltins Arena in the heart of the Ruhr Valley industrial region in western Germany.

A tense game

Ray Carter managed a goal midway through the third period for the US team, tying the score.

But Germany's Felix Schuetz scored 21 seconds into the five-minute sudden death overtime period, propelling the hosts to an opening victory against the odds. In ice hockey, the first team to score in overtime automatically wins the game.

Over the course of the game, German goaltender Dennis Endras recorded 31 saves, helping Germany secure its first ice hockey world championship win against the US in 17 years. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player for his efforts.

US team captain Jack Johnson praised Endras, but added that his team had plenty of time to make amends for the unexpected defeat.

"I don't think we played poorly," he said. "It was their goaltender who played really great."

The US team played with just one member of the silver-medal winning team from February's Vancouver Olympics. Germany was able to match them stride-for stride, playing a clever defensive game and switching quickly to the attack.

Germany's next group stage match is against Finland, to be played in Cologne on Monday, May 10.

gb/smh/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Mark Hallam