Close call

Canada coughs up lead, beats 3-2 Germany in OT

Eric Brewer pumps his fists after putting Canada into the semifinals. AP

TURKU, Finland (AP) -- Eric Brewer of the Edmonton Oilers scored 37 seconds into overtime Wednesday, giving Canada a 3-2 victory over Germany in the Hockey World Championships quarterfinals.

The Canadians will play the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The Czechs beat Russia 3-0 behind a goal and an assist from NHL goal-scoring leader Milan Hejduk of Colorado and the shutout goaltending of Tomas Vokoun of the Nashville Predators.

After resting on its laurels, Canada was saved in the four-on-four overtime when Brewer wristed a shot past badly screen German goalie Robert Muller on a power play. It was his first goal of the tournament.

"It was great to score that winner," Brewer said. "It was good enough to mask what was not a very good game by myself. I'm good at that. It was about time I scored one and if you only have one goal, that's the one to have.

"It was a close call."

Team captain Ryan Smyth, in his fifth consecutive world championship, opened the scoring at 3:04 on a power play. Cory Cross made it 2-0 midway through the second period.

Germany came back with a rebound goal by Lasse Kopitz 4:31 into the third, followed by Daniel Kreutzer's tying score.

"I don't know if we sat back after leading 2-0 but I don't think we were pushing enough," Brewer said. "I thought they played well and you need to give them credit. They never played themselves out of the game and never gave up, which was key.

"We fell into their style of play, even though the first two periods were definitely ours."

 

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