Munich, Germany - Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff of the San Jose Sharks scored the only goal for Team Germany as Uwe Krupp's team recorded its second straight loss in the Olympic tournament Thursday, losing 5-1 to Team Canada at Turin's Palasport Olimpico.

"I guess our performance was ok", said Ehrhoff. "But we should have kept the score a little closer. The next two games are the ones that really matter."

Germany is facing back-to-back must-win games this weekend against Italy and Switzerland. The chances of a trip to the Quarterfinals have dimmed however, as archrival Switzerland recorded its first win Thursday, upsetting reigning World Champion Czech Republic 3-2.

The Canadians came out buzzing and jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead and never looked back. Germany's 20-year-old netminder Thomas Greiss of the Kölner Haie, who started in place of Olaf Kölzig, struggled a little early on but bounced back, posting a 35-save effort. Once again, Germany's nemesis was their lack of offense. They only managed a total of 12 shots on Canada's starter Roberto Luongo. Ehrhoff tallied the sole goal on the power-play midway through the second period, ripping a low shot past Luongo who was screened by German forward Stefan Ustorf.

Canada came out buzzing in the opening period. It was Germany's that nearly took the lead however when Luongo left his net to play the puck on a breakaway by Eduard Lewandowski. But with the net wide open, defenseman Adam Foote made a sliding save against Lasse Kopitz. Play continued and Wade Redden scored on a 2-on-1 alongside Simon Gagne to put Canada up 1-0 at the 4:52 mark. Joe Sakic then cashed in on Canada's first powerplay of the game, scoring his first goal of the tournament to make it 2-0 at 7:29 from the near right slot. Canada kept coming and got another equal strength goal when Gagne made a diving effort to knock home the rebound of a point shot at 10:49.

Goalie Greiss got more and more confident as the game wore along. Germany managed to bounce back from the terrible start and showed a poised effort from that point on. The two teams traded goals in the middle frame. Ehrhoff's power-play tally cut the lead to 3-1at the 9:31-mark. The Germans then also killed off a nearly two-minute 5-on-3 advantage. But just seconds after the second penalty expired, Canada dashed all hopes of a German comeback when a high point shot from Foote ricocheted off the backboards and Dany Heatley batted the puck home out of mid-air to give the Canadians a 4-1 lead heading into the final stanza. With only 34 seconds left in the game, Shane Doan capped the scoring at 5-1, beating Greiss on a wrap-around.