5:3! Austria is and remains in the top divi­sion

Image information: This is a team! With a sensational final period against Great Britain, Austria secured their place at the top-division World Championship - Photos: GEPA pictures/Daniel Götzhaber

Austria's men's national ice hockey team made the decisive preliminary-round game in the battle to stay in the top division against Great Britain a tense affair, trailing 0:2 and 1:3, before turning the result around in the final period thanks to outstanding goaltending from Bernhard Starkbaum and an unrelenting will to win, securing top-division status for themselves and head coach Roger Bader in his 100th international match.

With the 5:3 win over the British, head coach Roger Bader's team once again remain in the top division after 2018 and will finish this World Championship no lower than the top 13.

The fact that it came to this decisive game was due to a “curious” circumstance, because under normal circumstances Austria could, and indeed should, have already been safe on the four points earned from the sensational results against the USA (2:3 after OT), Czechia (2:1 after SO) and Latvia (3:4 after SO).

But they were still one point short of the objective of staying in the top division ahead of the all-important final preliminary-round match against Great Britain. Why? The British, for their part, kept their chances of staying in the top division alive thanks to a 3:4 win over Norway after a penalty shootout, having turned a 0:3 deficit into a 3:3 draw.

The situation was therefore clear: any result other than a defeat after 60 minutes would be enough for Austria to stay in the top division.

The team’s nerves were evident, head coach Roger Bader: "We believe that many players were nervous before the game, that there was a certain tension after playing such a good World Championship and knowing that you could lose everything in the end."

At the other end, almost everything went right for the British, who caught the Austrians completely by surprise. Throughout the game, it was above all Austria's goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum who prevented them from conceding more goals. The Vienna native kept a clean sheet until shortly before the end of the first period. However, the power-play goal to make it 1:0 for Great Britain, scored by Matthew Myers, was preceded by a penalty against Manuel Ganahl that left more than a few question marks in the Austrian camp.

After the break came the next shock moment: in the 22nd minute, Robert Dowd sent the puck over the goal line with his skate. Following a brief video review by the officials, the goal counted and it was 2:0. The Austrians now grew into the game, but on the counter-attack the British were still closer to making it 3:0 than Austria were to pulling one back.

From the end of the second period onwards, however, the course of the game finally began to turn. Head coach Roger Bader's team had found their way into the game, put Great Britain under pressure and created several scoring chances, but the goal would not come – not yet.

For the final period, Bader made a few changes to his lines, and with success: "At the end, when we knew it was all or nothing, we changed the lines and threw everything forward. Then it worked."

Despite the happy ending, the final 20 minutes of the World Championship were not for the faint-hearted. In the 45th minute, Ali Wukovits made it 1:2 on the power play. The joy was short-lived, however, as just 90 seconds later Cade Neilson found himself alone in front of Bernhard Starkbaum's net and made it 3:1 for the United Kingdom.

Now the Austrians' true mentality came to the fore: never give up! Rather than dropping their heads, they once again built on their performances from the previous games, pressed the British early and created scoring chances. Successfully! In the 48th minute, Dominique Heinrich made it 2:3 with a wrist shot. After killing a penalty, Benjamin Nissner had the red-white-red stands rocking in the 52nd minute.

§I didn't see anything at all when it made it 3:3. I just tried to get the puck to the net and thought that with a bit of luck it would go in," said the match-winner after the game.

Austria controlled the game, while the British now had to be more attack-minded, creating more and more opportunities for the Red-White-Reds. With 66 seconds remaining, captain Thomas Raffl finally made it 4:3, before Peter Schneider's empty-net goal 22 seconds later made it 5:3 and effectively sealed the outcome. Survival in the top division after a historic World Championship was secured!

Head Coach Roger Bader: "Everyone who loves Austrian ice hockey had their nerves tested today. We started the game very, very poorly. The first period was by far our worst of this World Championship. It was the opposite of what has distinguished us. We were passive, our penalty kill was brutally poor. We asked ourselves why that was. We believe some players were very nervous before the game; there was the tension of having played such a good World Championship and being able to lose everything in the end. Only towards the end, when we knew it was all or nothing, did we change the lines and throw everything forward. Then it worked. I am very relieved. We are very happy that we have secured our place in the top division. I think the team has grown together as a group over the past few weeks. The mix of newcomers and experienced players, the human side of it all – all of that was world-class and was a key factor in our comeback and securing our place in the top division."

Captain Thomas Raffl: "We too had imagined things differently from the start. The first period was certainly our worst of the entire tournament. The second was better, and in the third period we played again as we had before. This victory was an absolute team effort."

Dominique Heinrich: "There were probably a few nerves involved today. It was not the game we had envisaged. But we always believed in ourselves and knew that we could do it."

Bernhard Starkbaum: "I only played my part in this success. We did not start the way we had intended. We did not play the way we can, but in the end we found ourselves, showed our ice hockey and won. The way we fought back is simply incredible. I am proud to be part of this team. I take my hat off to this team."

Peter Schneider: "Incredible. I think we played a very good World Championship. Not in the first two periods today, admittedly, but we deservedly remain in the top division. We knew we could play better and that there was plenty of room for improvement, and we showed that in the end. This was my third World Championship and the team has clearly improved compared with the first two. What the team has achieved is incredible. I am incredibly proud."

Manuel Ganahl: "Some others might have broken under that pressure, but that is what defines our spirit. We knew that, no matter what, it was still possible; we just had to find ourselves, fight and win the battles. There was certainly a little nervousness involved. The British executed their game plan perfectly and surprised us. The most important thing is that we pulled together, always believed in ourselves and left the ice as winners."

85th IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

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

Austria schedule

Austria vs. Great Britain 5:3 (0:1,0:1,5:1)
Mon, 23 May 2022, 19:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Austria goalscorers: Ali Wukovits (45), Dominique Heinrich (48), Benjamin Nissner (52), Thomas Raffl (59), Peter Schneider (60)
Great Britain goalscorers: Matthew Myers (19), Robert Dowd (22), Cade Neilson (47)

The remaining preliminary-round results

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)

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)

Czech Republic vs. Austria 1:2 after a penalty shootout (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, decisive penalty (65)

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 min./PP1), Lukas Haudum (27 min./PP1), Peter Schneider (57 min./PP)

Latvia vs. Austria 4:3 after a shoot-out (0:0,3:2,0:1,0:0,1:0)
Fri, 20 May 2022, 19:20 pm, Nokia Arena, Tampere
Latvia goalscorers: Rudolfs Balcers (26 min., 36 min.), Rihards Bukarts (30 min./PP1); Nikolajs Jelisejevs and Roberts Bukarts (shoot-out)
Austria goalscorers: Benjamin Nissner (22 min.), Dominique Heinrich (32 min./PP2), Thomas Raffl (47 min.); Dominique Heinrich (shoot-out)

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