0:2 - Austria lose to Italy despite being clearly supe­rior

In the first of two exhibition games against Italy, Head Coach Roger Bader gave the two young goaltenders Florian Vorauer and Alexander Schmidt ice time, while also testing the entire young contingent. They delivered a top performance.

Italy did create the first major chance of the game, which Florian Vorauer, lying on the ice, deflected onto the crossbar with his left pad to deny it, but thereafter there was relentless action in front of Italy's net.

Austria put Italy under pressure early on and implemented the game plan of Roger Bader almost perfectly. He was also highly satisfied with the first 40 minutes: “I was super happy with the performance in the first 40 minutes. We had 24:7 shots and dominated Italy. Only the goals did not come.”

The first goal of the game came out of nowhere for the hosts in the 30th minute: Marco Francesco found himself in a good shooting position right in front of Florian Vorauer and scored for 1:0. The planned goaltending change followed immediately afterwards, with Alexander Schmidt getting his ice time.

Austria remained the superior side, did not lose their composure after falling behind and pushed for 1:1. Time and again, Justin Fazio stood in their way, and he was ultimately named Italy's Best Player. Austria then took a total of four penalties in the final period, with Italy using the second to take a 2:0 lead. Due to the shorthanded situations, it was also the hosts' best spell of the game as they saw out the win on home ice.

Head Coach Roger Bader: “We did a great many things very well. We were quick, aggressive and dominant. We also started the final period well. With four penalties, it was difficult; Italy were given the space to see out the win. We improved on last week's game against Slovenia. We put the opposition under good pressure, transitioned quickly when in possession of the puck and were only denied by the goaltender. We want to build on the first 40 minutes on Friday and take the next step.”

Exhibition game:

Italy vs. Austria 2:0 (0:0,1:0,1:0)
Wed, 12 April 2023, 20:00, Bruneck (ITA)
Italy scorers: Marco Defrancesco (30th), Peter Spornberger (50th/PP1)

Further World Championship schedule:

Austria vs. Italy
Fri, 14 April 2023, 17:30, Innsbruck
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Germany vs. Austria
Thu, 20 April 2023, 19:30, Deggendorf (GER)
Live on ORF Sport+

Germany vs. Austria
Sat, 22 April 2023, 17:00, Landshut (GER)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. Czechia
Thu, 27 April 2023, 18:30, Vienna
Live on ORF Sport+

Czechia vs. Austria
Sat, 29 April 2023, 16:00, Brno (CZE)
Live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Slovakia
Thu, 4 May 2023, 18:30, Kapfenberg
Live on ORF Sport+

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 6 May 2023, 16:00, Trencin (SVK)
Live on ORF Sport+

Already played:

Austria vs. Slovenia 3:5 (1:2, 2:1, 0:2)
Thu, 6 April 2023, 17:30, Villach
Austria goalscorers: Emilio Romig (20'/PP1), Nico Feldner (25'/PP1, 28')
Slovenia goalscorers: Blaž Tomaževič (7'), Jan Drozg (15'), Ken Ograjenšek (31'), Robert Sabolič (52'/PP1), Žiga Pance (59'/SH1/EN)