0:3! Austria lose to Finland despite a strong perfor­mance

Image info: Austria stand up to hosts Finland by every means possible - Photo: GEPA pictures/David Götzhaber

The penultimate matchday of the World Championship group stage brought a genuine ice hockey highlight for Austria's players and coaching staff. A game in ice hockey-mad Finland against the hosts, reigning Olympic champions and currently the best team in the world, in the brand-new Nokia Arena, sold out with 11.573 fans was no everyday experience. Just 20 hours separated the start of the game against Latvia from that against Finland. Austria have yet to record a win over Finland in 15 games. Their best results to date were a 5:5 draw at the Netherlands Tournament in 1981 and a 3:3 result at the World Championship in Sankt Petersburg in 2000. On Thursday, two more NHL players joined the Finnish team in Dallas Stars defencemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell. The hosts are a force both offensively and, above all, defensively; in five World Championship games, "Suomi" scored 19 goals and conceded just five.

Compared to the 3:4 penalty-shootout defeat against Latvia, Head Coach Roger Bader made only a few minor changes to the line-up this time. David Kickert again started in goal in place of Bernhard Starkbaum. David Madlener was the back-up goalie this time. The four forward lines remained unchanged. Manuel Ganahl remained on the left wing alongside centre Lukas Haudum and Marco Kasper. Captain Thomas Raffl, Benjamin Nissner and Peter Schneider made up the second line. Brian Lebler played on the left of the third forward line, with Ali Wukovits at centre and Paul Huber on the right. Nico Feldner skated on the right wing of the fourth line with Oliver Achermann and Simeon Schwinger.

On the first pairing, Clemens Unterweger defended alongside David Maier. Bernd Wolf and Kilian Zündel faced the Finnish forwards, while Dominic Hackl formed a defensive pairing with Erik Kirchschläger. Nico Brunner played with Philipp Wimmer, who returned to the team after his suspension against Latvia, on the fourth defensive pairing. Dominique Heinrich was given a rest this time with Monday's important game against Great Britain in mind.

The game, played in front of a magnificent crowd and in an excellent atmosphere, began with a cold shower after exactly 105 seconds. Teemu Hartikainen set up Valtteri Filippula from behind the goal, and he scored Finland's 1:0 from point-blank range (2 min.). After this lightning start by the Lions, the Austrians responded, battling bravely in their own zone and attempting to disrupt Finland's fast rotational play somewhat. As the first period progressed, Austria's red-white-red players grew more confident, with Marco Kasper producing a fine shift for Austria with a cheeky burst forward.

A nice gesture from the World Championship hosts: Austria forward Lukas Haudum was congratulated on the big video cube on his 25th birthday. The wave went around the Nokia Arena as fans of both teams celebrated an ice hockey festival. Late in the first period, Austria took their first penalty, with captain Thomas Raffl sent to the penalty box for holding. The ÖEHV selection killed off the penalty, and goaltender David Kickert did not allow another goal after the early 0:1. Austria had recovered and once again put in a good performance over the opening 20 minutes.

In the second period, Mikael Granlund made it 2:0 after a rebound (25 min.). The Austrians continued to be increasingly occupied with defensive duties in their own zone. There was little going forward in the second period; Lukas Haudum tested Finland goalie Jussi Olkinuora with a shot on one occasion. Peter Schneider also showed his offensive qualities once. During another penalty kill, goaltender David Kicker produced a superb save against Mikael Granlund. Shortly before the end, Clemens Unterweger was penalised for tripping, then Paul Huber and Ali Wukovits suddenly broke towards the Finnish goal in a 2:1 situation. Following a good shot by Huber, Ali Wukovits was unable to get the puck past goalie Olkinuora twice from close range on the rebound. It was the big chance to get on the scoresheet with a shorthanded goal and cut the deficit to 1:2.

At the start of the final period, Benjamin Nissner had a double chance from close range after a shot by Kilian Zündel; on the second attempt, the centre was brought down unfairly in front of goal by Esa Lindell. On the ensuing power play, Marco Kasper drove irresistibly towards the Finnish goal, but the puck simply would not slide over the line. At the other end, Toni Rajala made it 3:0 for Finland, catching goaltender David Kickert out at the near post (48 min.). Austria continued to play boldly going forward, with the red-white-red players determined to score, but Head Coach Jukka Jalonen's team did not concede and ultimately won 3:0. Ali Wukovits was named Austria's Player of the Game.

Head Coach Roger Bader analysed the game against Finland after the final buzzer: "In my opinion, we were too passive at the start of the first period. We tried to close down the neutral zone more so that the opposition would get held up, but that did not work as well as I had envisaged. They entered our zone with a great deal of speed and force. It was only one goal, but they had numerous chances. We then adjusted our trap a little in the second period, which worked better, and in the final period we also forechecked more again. That worked even better, so it was more like our style again, and all in all, you can lose 0:3 to this team. I think we gave a good account of ourselves, and the longer the game went on, the better we became!"

The head coach paid tribute to the hosts in terms of Finland's passion for ice hockey: "I have coached in front of crowds like this before, so it was not the first time, but of course it is fantastic to see what an ice hockey country Finland is. Ice hockey is the most important sport in Finland, everyone here loves ice hockey, and playing in front of so many fans is an experience for everyone involved!"

Ahead of the decisive game against Great Britain to remain in the top division, the Swiss coach does not want to change much: "We will have a completely normal preparation, and the players will have a recovery day on Sunday. We will not do anything sporting, we will certainly have a meeting in the evening, but otherwise they will have time off so they can clear their heads. We will approach this game as we have approached every game, and we will prepare properly. Our aim is to deliver a strong performance and win the game!"

Defenceman Dominic Hackl was pleased with the performance against Finland: "I think we played really well and fought well. We did not execute a few simple things as we had imagined, but overall we can build on this performance and take the positive things into our important game against Great Britain!" Hackl knows what matters on the day off: "Everyone will make sure they recover as well as possible and are simply mentally and physically ready for the game against Great Britain!"

The defenceman said of Monday's decisive game: "We simply have to play our game, play smart and play simple. Just chip the puck and do not let them get into the game. We have to impose our game on them and we need a great performance!"

After a rest day on Sunday, Austria continue against Great Britain on Monday at 19:20. It is Austria's final game at this World Championship and their place in the top division is at stake. One point after 60 minutes is enough to remain in the top division. ORF Sport+ will again broadcast live.

13 - 29 May 2022
Hosts: Finland (Tampere & Helsinki)
Defending champions: Canada

Austria fixtures

Austria vs. Finland 0:3 (0:1,0:1,0:1)
Sat., 21 May 2022, Tampere, 15:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Finland scorers: Valtteri Filippula (2nd minute), Mikael Granlund (25th minute), Toni Rajala (48th minute)

Austria vs. Great Britain
Mon., 23 May 2022, 19:20, live on ORF Sport+

Already played:

Latvia vs. Austria 4:3 n.P. (0:0,3:2,0:1,0:0,1:0)
Fri., 20 May 2022, 19:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Latvia scorers: Rudolfs Balcers (26th, 36th minutes), Rihards Bukarts (30th minute/PP1); Nikolajs Jelisejevs and Roberts Bukarts (shootout)
Austria scorers: Benjamin Nissner (22nd minute), Dominique Heinrich (32nd minute/PP2), Thomas Raffl (47th minute); Dominique Heinrich (shootout)

Norway vs. Austria 5:3 (1:1,2:1,2:1)
Wed, 18 May 2022, 15:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Norway scorers: Mats Rosseli Olsen (8/SH, 48/PP2), Andreas Martinsen (21), Martin Røymark (32), Martin Rønnild (60/EN)
Austria scorers: Dominique Heinrich (7/PP1), Lukas Haudum (27/PP1), Peter Schneider (57/PP)

Czech Republic vs. Austria 1:2 after a penalty shoot-out (1:0,0:0,0:1,0:0,0:1)
Tue, 17 May 2022, 15:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Czech Republic scorer: Roman Červenka (18)
Austria scorers: Brian Lebler (60), Peter Schneider with the decisive penalty (65)

Austria vs. USA 2:3 after overtime (1:0,1:1,0:1,0:1)
Sun, 15 May 2022, 15:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Austria scorers: Benjamin Nissner (15), Paul Huber (35)
USA scorers: Kieffer Bellows (35), Adam Gaudette (49/PP1), Luke Hughes (63)

Sweden vs. Austria 3:1 (2:1,1:0,0:0)
Sat, 14 May 2022, 11:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Sweden scorers: Joel Kellman (3), Max Friberg (17), Joakim Nordström (33)
Austria scorer: Peter Schneider (20)