Austria's U18 men cele­brate a friendly win against World Cham­pi­onship oppo­nents Kaza­khstan

After falling 0:1 behind early in their final World Championship warm-up game, Austria quickly equalised on a swift counter-attack in the first period, with Leon Buzek turning the puck over the line following a cross-ice pass from Luc van Ee to make it 1:1 (8th). Red-White-Red were unable to create much offensively after that and had to kill three consecutive penalties, but their penalty killing worked very well.

The game really came alive in the second period. Kazakhstan took the lead again, before Austria stepped up and turned the game around, at least for the time being: Manel Wadel made it 2:2 with a backhand finish from a tight angle (30th), before Austria took the lead for the first time. Paul Sintschnig completed a give-and-go with Leon Kolarik to make it 3:2 (36th). Just under a minute later, Kazakhstan equalised on the power play. 

At the start of the final period, goaltender Leandro Djuric made way for his colleague Martin Haim. On the power play, Konstantin Hutzinger fired the puck under the crossbar to make it 4:3 (49th/PP1), putting Austria back in front. It got even better: Jonathan Oschgan capitalised on a Kazakhstan error in the neutral zone, broke away and scored a classic shorthander to make it 5:3 (53rd).

Leon Kolarik then put the game beyond doubt with his slot finish to make it 6:3 (54th). Kazakhstan managed to pull one back, but Head Coach Florian Mühlstein's team saw out the final minutes without any further trouble.

Head Coach Florian Mühlstein: "At times we played good ice hockey, but at other times we made individual mistakes and were poorly positioned on the ice. Overall, I am satisfied, considering that we had seven penalty kills. The penalty killing was very good and our power play worked very well; the boys have worked for and earned that. We are heading in the right direction, although there is of course still a lot of work ahead. The goaltenders played well, we have one more training session on Saturday and then we start the World Championship on Sunday!"

U18 Men's National Team World Championship preparation

Kazakhstan vs. Austria 4:6 (1:1,2:2,1:3)

Thu, 17 April 2025, 16:30, Szekesfehervar

Austria goalscorers: Leon Buzek (8th), Manuel Wadel (30th), Paul Sintschnig (36th), Konstantin Hutzinger (49th/PP1), Jonathan Oschgan (53rd/SH1), Leon Kolarik (54th)

Already played:

Slovenia vs. Austria 4:3 (0:1,3:0,1:2)
Tue, 15 April 2025, 14:00, Maribor
Austria goalscorers: Emil Wagner (11th), Kevin Mandl (43rd), Paul Oberhauser (54th)

2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I, Group A

20 - 26 April 2025, Szekesfehervar (HUN)
Participants: Denmark, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Ukraine, Austria

Denmark vs. Austria
Sun, 20 April 2025, 12:30

Austria vs. Slovenia
Mon, 21 April 2025, 16:00

Ukraine vs. Austria
Wed, 23 April 2025, 12:30

Austria vs. Kazakhstan
Thu, 24 April 2025, 16:00

Austria vs. Hungary
Sat, 26 April 2025, 16:00