Few things are more embarrassing in the world of sports than losing your balance and falling or allowing a goal to be scored in your own net. In a preliminary round matchup between Italy and Denmark in the IIHF World Championships, one poor Italian skater was responsible for both feats at the same time.
Italy pulled its goalie out of the net after a penalty was called on Denmark. So before the stoppage in play, Italy hoped to take advantage of the extra skater. The only problem was defenseman Alexander Egger had some trouble in front of the net as he took a pass from a teammate. Egger stumbled and fell to his knees, just after his stick touched the puck and deflected it toward the empty net just feet away. As Egger fell to the ice, he could do nothing but watch in agony as the puck slowly made its way across the goal line with nothing standing in the way.
Peter Regin was credited with the goal after being the last player on Denmark’s team to touch the puck. Denmark went on to hang on to their 2-0 lead to secure the win. The result of the game was far more detrimental for Italy, who will now be relegated in the IIHF from the Elite Pool.
