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Germany stuns Slovakia in men's hockey
By Alan Robinson
AP sports writer
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Marc Seliger stopped 29 shots and German pro league teammate Jurgen Rumrich scored a short-handed goal as Germany pulled off an upset at the Olympic hockey tournament, beating Slovakia 3-0 Saturday.
Jan Benda added a power play goal as Germany's special teams scored twice against goalie Pavol Rybar in a pivotal second period, making the Germans the front-runners to advance from their four-team pool into final-round play.
Klaus Kathan added a late empty-net goal in Germany's best Olympic performance since it nearly upset silver medalist Canada in Albertville in 1992.
It was a discouraging loss for Slovakia, which has by far the most NHL players at its disposal of the eight preliminary round teams and was favored to move into the medal round.
But even with NHL forwards Miroslav Satan of the Sabres, Ziggy Palffy of the Kings and Michal Handzus of the Coyotes in their lineup after general manager Peter Stastny persuaded their teams to let them play, Slovakia could not solve Seliger.
Rumrich, who plays with Seliger for Nurnberg in German's top pro league, turned the game by stealing the puck at the blue line 30 seconds into the second period and beating Rybar with a left-handed shot to the stick side just as he slid past the net.
Benda added a wrist shot through traffic at 7:03, allowing Germany to play conservatively and rely on Seliger's strong play. Seliger made a series of big saves in the third period, including a glove-hand stop of Handzus at 17:20.
Goaltending was seen as Slovakia's biggest weakness — it has no NHL-caliber players at the position — but a bigger problem was its perceived strength: goal scoring. Slovakia — a disappointing 10th in Nagano in 1998 — was expected to add NHL players Peter Bondra, Pavol Demitra and Marian Hossa as the Olympics progressed, but seems likely to be eliminated
Instead, Germany is in position to pick up Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig and Red Wings defenseman Uwe Krupp if it advances. Germany has preliminary round games remaining against Latvia and Austria.
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February 9, 2002
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