Before today’s game Germany had never beaten the Czech Republic at the U20-level. In a must-win game in order to avoid relegation, Germany came very close to upset the Czechs but found themselves on the losing end of a close game. Two third-period goals by Ondrej Palat turned a 2-1 deficit into 3-2 Czech victory.

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"The atmosphere in the dresing room right now is not really one of happiness but sheer relief," Palat said. "Now we know we cannot be relegated. We were very nervous out there. Both players and staff on the bench were very tense today."

The stakes were clear for Germany. A victory would mean the Germans would have destiny in its own hands whereas a loss would mean being relegated back to Division I once again.
The fans in the Dwyer Arena in Niagara were treated to typical relegation round game. Fast end-to-end but not always technically sound hockey. They had to wait nearly 23 minutes before Norman Hauners saw his tight angled shot deflecting into the Czech net to give Germany a surprising lead.

The goal brought some life into the Czechs who couldn’t create much offence up to that point. They started to pressure the German net with more poise and eventually were rewarded when Michal Hlinka one-timed a shot home from the right side to make it 1-1.

German Mirko Hofflin squandered a clear breakaway opportunity when he was thwarted by Filip Novotny early in the third period. But the Czech netminder turned from hero to scapegoat when he gave away a cheap rebound on a weak shot by Bernhard Keil. Marius Mochel was at the right place to muscle in the rebound to electrify the German bench.