Ice Hockey World Championship

LIVE: Austria faces archrival Germany!

Dominic Zwerger and Co. suffered a 2-6 drubbing against Germany...(Bild: GEPA)

The dream of defeating Germany—it lasted just 66 seconds in front of 9,685 fans at the Swiss Life Arena! But the DEB team quickly responded to Wallner’s 1-0 goal with the 1-1 equalizer, subsequently took control of the game, and ultimately won 6-2. Regardless, Austria remains in the running for a quarterfinal berth.

Austria entered the game with Atte Tolvanen in goal and plenty of energy—paired with a hard but fair forecheck: Rebernig created the first chance of the game, making a spectacular drive down the left wing; goalie Grubauer was his final stop (2nd minute). Germany’s NHL goalie was also on hand to stop Biber’s attempt from the blue line (3rd), while at the other end, Wagner’s shot posed no problem for Tolvanen, and the Austro-Finn was also alert to Reichel’s shot (7th).

(Bild: GEPA)

Open exchange of blows
Germany’s Kastner received the first penalty of the game—and the only one in the first period—for tripping Schneider (8th). However, the power play yielded little for the ÖEHV team. In an open back-and-forth battle, the action swung back and forth with occasional scoring chances: Mik found his match in Tolvanen on a shot from the blue line (13th), and Samanski’s cross-ice pass fortunately found no takers in the slot (14th).

Tolvanen on hand twice
Just as Austria had a prime chance following a pass from Schneider, Grubauer deflected Nissner’s shot with his stick hand (16th minute). Then Austria’s defense “forgot” about Tuomie lurking at the blue line, though he failed to control the puck after a sharp pass. Then Tolvanen was on hand twice, stopping both Seider’s shot—which had been briefly deflected—and Ehl’s rebound (18th). In the closing minutes of the first period, Zwerger delivered a magnificent pass to Schneider, who was lurking in front of the net, but Schneider failed to convert, as did Biber moments later after a pass from Schneider (19th).

Austria broke the deadlock
In the second period, there were initial chances for Dove-McFalls and Rohrer, respectively, before Austria broke the deadlock: Harnisch picked up speed on the right in his own zone, outmaneuvered a German player, and passed inside, where Wallner put the puck in the net right in front of Grubauer. But the joy lasted only 66 seconds: As the Austrian team had pushed up too far as a unit, Samanski passed from behind the net to Lukas Reichel, who fired a sharp, unstoppable shot to make it 1-1—the ÖEHV team was always a step too late on this play.

Another lead was in the air
Nissner had a chance to make it 2-1, but his shot was too central (26th). Then Rebernig failed to score when alone in front of Grubauer, and another lead for Roger Bader’s team seemed imminent. German shots like Reichel’s (29th) posed no problems for Tolvanen. He was more challenged by Gawanke’s attempt, but he handled that task with confidence as well (31st).

(Bild: GEPA)

Austria lost its defensive shape
Germany then skillfully capitalized on the opportunity to take the lead, partly because Austria had lost its defensive organization and was too focused on the puck. As a result, they forgot about Samanski, who, after a setup by Tiffels and Reichel, had a completely uncontested shot and sent the puck high into the net, unstoppable for Tolvanen (34th minute).

Austria lucky to be down 1-2
All of this occurred during a phase when the ÖEHV team had little offensive impact and failed to create any scoring chances. To make matters worse, they also took the first penalty of the game, with Wolf sent to the penalty box for two minutes for delaying the game. Austria survived the shorthanded situation without conceding a goal, thanks in part to luck, and was fortunate to be down only 1-2 given the 5-15 shot count. Tolvanen proved to be a strong backbone for the team during this phase as well.

In the final period, the Red-White-Red team initially regained its offensive strength, with Rebernig shooting just wide (42nd minute). Then Rohrer was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for holding, and the DEB team pushed for the 3-1 lead: Seven seconds before the penalty expired, Reichel buried the puck in the corner with a powerful shot (46th minute).

(Bild: EPA/CLAUDIO THOMA)

A third period to forget
The Bader team didn’t give up even after the 1-4—Maier had deflected a Wiederer shot into his own net—(49th). Promptly, just 34 seconds later, Rohrer cut the lead to 2-4 by sinking the puck from the right side into the near top corner (49th). But penalties against Schneider (two plus two minutes!) and Nickl dashed any remaining hope. Reichel sealed the 5-2 score with his third goal during a 5-on-3 power play. Bader then pulled Tolvanen from the ice early, and Ehl scored into the empty net to make it 6-2.

Despite the 2-6 loss, the chance to reach the quarterfinals remains intact: Austria will likely need three points from its remaining matches against Finland (Sunday) and the USA (Tuesday). A very difficult task—but hope springs eternal!

The result:
Austria – Germany 2–6 (0–0, 1–2, 1–4)

Goals: 1-0 (23.) Wallner, 1-1 (24.) Reichel, 2-1 (34.) Samanski, 1-3 (46.) Reichel, 1-4 (49.) Wiederer, 2-4 (49.) Rohrer, 2-5 (52./PP2) Reichel, 2-6 (55./EN) Ehl

Austria's lineup: Tolvanen; Wolf, Unterweger; Nickl, Biber; Hackl, Maier; Stapelfeldt, Schnetzer; Schneider, Nissner, Zwerger; Thaler, Rohrer, P. Huber; Schwinger, M. Huber, Rebernig; Harnisch, Wallner, Kolarik.