Could be.
Germany is on track to be burning their dead in order to stay warm this winter. There's a lot of rumbling that Germany may buckle and lift sanctions against Russia to get the gas turned back on.
If Germany lifts sanctions, the NATO alliance in Ukraine will crumble.
The U.S. might have wanted to ensure that this could not happen.
First off, the Greens are actually happy about the gas cutoff and are fiercely pro-Ukrainian. If Scholz tries to back off, the government will collapse.
Second, because of their foot dragging, the Germans (and the French) have more or less removed any leverage they have over the Ukraine war. Ukraine is being primarily armed and equipped by the US, Poland and the Scandinavians.
The Germans could try to lift sanctions, but they would face a lot of opposition in the EU. Only the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is now functional but unused. Another "accident" and they will have no choice but to get gas from somewhere else.