Germany, Switzerland got off to quick, violent start in hockey qualifier

The opening two minutes of the Germany-Switzerland hockey game on Tuesday in PyeongChang, South Korea, may have been the craziest 120-second stretch of action so far in the Winter Olympics.

The two teams, competing for a chance to take on Sweden in the quarterfinals, didn’t waste any time getting at each others’ throats — literally.

Swiss forward Cody Almond delivered a brutal hit to the head of Germany’s Christian Ehrhoff just nine seconds into the game, knocking the defender flat on his back.

The hit resulted in a five-minute penalty, and sent Ehrhoff to the locker room and into concussion protocol.

Then, just 70 seconds later, Germany’s Leonhard Pfoderl slammed the puck past Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller to score the power play goal, giving Germany the 1-0 lead. The Germans would go on to win 2-1 on a goal by Yannic Seidenberg shortly into overtime.

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