Memo­rable! Austria claim a point against Canada with sensa­tional come­back

Against defending champions Canada, Austria head coach Roger Bader placed his trust in goaltender David Madlener, with David Kickert named as the back-up in the line-up. In the opening minutes, the Red-White-Reds were defensively sound and tried to keep pace with the Maple Leafs. During the first real spell of pressure, Dylan Cozens got hold of the puck in the slot, and the forward gave Madlener no chance to make it 1:0 for the reigning world champions (7.). 

The team coached by André Tourigny were dominant and repeatedly launched quick attacks. The result was 2:0 through Kaiden Guhle (10.). Austria found a swift response just 50 seconds later, scoring with their first real chance: following an energetic drive by Mario Huber, Benjamin Nissner made it 1:2 from close range (11.). Just under three minutes later, Bowen Byram scored to make it 3:1. His shot, which was heading wide, was deflected off Paul Huber’s hip beyond Madlener’s reach (14.).

Canada remained dominant in the second period, with Jared McCann rounding goaltender David Madlener to make it 4:1 (23.). The ÖEHV selection could launch only occasional counter-attacks and did not create any clear-cut chances. Peter Schneider tested netminder Jordan Binnington with a good shot. Just before the halfway mark of the game, Connor Bedard surprised Madlener from a tight angle to score for 5:1 (30.). 

The best chances fell to Dominic Zwerger, who put the puck onto the outside of the post from close range after a sharp cross-ice pass from Peter Schneider, and Marco Rossi following a fine combination. In between, Austria were fortunate when Cozens hit the crossbar. Pierre-Luc Dubois then reacted quickest following a scramble and increased the lead to 6:1 (38.).

Five unanswered goals for Austria in the final period

Austria made the better start to the final period with two goals in 54 seconds: after an unused power play, Peter Schneider picked up the puck on the left, broke quickly and played a perfect pass to Benjamin Baumgartner, who brilliantly netted to make it 2:6 (44.). With the next moment of brilliance, the ÖEHV selection even cut the deficit to 3:6, as Peter Schneider beat Jordan Binnington with a sharp shot from a tight angle (45.). 

Paul Huber then even had the chance to score a fourth goal, but was denied from close range. The Austrians were truly on fire now. Dominic Zwerger scored to make it 4:6 after a burst down the left (51.). The fans in Prague Arena celebrated the team with a standing ovation. Austria were not finished yet: Peter Schneider sent Binnington the wrong way and scored to reduce the deficit to 5:6 (56.). The arena was now rocking. 

In the end, goaltender David Madlener was already on his way off the ice when Marco Rossi collected the puck and lifted it into the net with his backhand 49 seconds from time to level the score at 6:6 (60.). The Austrians won the final period 5:0 and forced overtime, in which John Tavares scored the winner for 7:6 after just 15 seconds (61.). Just as in 2004, when they drew 2:2 in Prague, Austria claimed a point against Canada. Dominic Zwerger was named Best Player.

Head coach Roger Bader was highly satisfied with his team following the sensational comeback and unexpected point: "I have now been a professional head coach for 30 years, and I have experienced some crazy games in those 30 years. Scoring five goals against the world champions and coming back in the final period ranks very highly for me. After two periods, I no longer believed in a comeback. I told my players, because I did not want the game to end 1:9 or something similar, that they should enjoy the final period, because it is not a given to play against the world champions in front of more than 10.000 people – I did not yet know it was more than 14.000 – and show that we can play good ice hockey and have a good period, regardless of whether we concede or score a goal. With that sentence, I loosened the shackles a little. Of course, I did not know they would implement it like that!"

Bader explained the outstanding final period: "Sometimes in sport, it comes like an avalanche. We had one or two good saves from the goaltender, then we defended more aggressively in our own zone and were able to transition more quickly. Then we quickly scored to make it 2:6, which helped a lot; it was a beautifully worked goal from Peter Schneider to Benjamin Baumgartner. At the latest from the fourth goal onwards, we coaches were already considering pulling the goaltender. Then one thing led to another. That 14.000 people in the arena were backing the underdogs was an incredible experience for everyone involved!"

Dominic Zwerger, scorer of the goal to make it 4:6 and Best Playerfor Austria could barely comprehend the final period: "Unbelievable. I think that after the second period, after the 1:6, nobody in the world believed in us any more. Not even our own families, I think. We showed the whole world what is possible; the emotions were incredible. I got the puck, realised I was on my own and thought, now I’ll take heart. Luckily, the puck went in. That gave us even more momentum. To make it 6:6 at the end and go into overtime level against this team after being 1:6 down, that has never happened before – that is IIHF history!"

Two-goal scorer Peter Schneiderwas also euphoric after that final period, but warned against getting carried away: "It was an incredible experience to turn the game around like that. Great that we take the point with us. On the other hand, we also have to make sure we keep our feet on the ground. We have not achieved our goal yet; we have to take the good things from the game, look at the bad things and improve further as the tournament progresses. To come back like that against Canada in the final period at a World Championship – it was not a friendly – is simply an incredible experience. The atmosphere in the arena was unbelievable; all the fans apart from the Canadians were behind us because they were supporting the underdog. It was really awesome!"

World Championship co-favourites Finland await on Thursday

After a day off, the ÖEHV selection continues on Thursday, 16 May, from 16:20 against World Championship co-favourites Finland. The match will be shown live on ORF SPORT +.

2024 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Canada vs. Austria 7:6 AOT (3:1,3:0,0:5,1:0)
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 14.704
Canada scorers:Dylan Cozens (7 minute), Kaiden Guhle (10 minute), Bowen Byram (14 minute), Jared McCann (23 minute), Connor Bedard (30 minute), Pierre-Luc Dubois (38 minute), John Tavares (61 minute)
Austria scorers:Benjamin Nissner (11 minute), Benjamin Baumgartner (44 minute), Peter Schneider (45 minute, 56 minute), Dominic Zwerger (51 minute), Marco Rossi (60 minute)

Austria lined up with:

Goaltenders: 31 Madlener David; 30 Kickert David (backup)
Line 1: 91 Heinrich Dominique - 78 Thimo Nickl; 5 Raffl Thomas - 70 Nissner Benjamin - 96 Huber Mario
Line 2: 92 Unterweger Clemens - 32 Wolf Bernd; 16 Zwerger Dominic - 23 Rossi Marco - 3 Schneider Peter
Line 3: 24 Strong Steven - 12 Maier David; 17 Ganahl Manuel - 98 Baumgartner Benjamin - 21 Haudum Lukas
Line 4: 18 Stapelfeldt Paul - 20 Brunner Nico; 52 Huber Paul - 9 Wukovits Ali - 19 Rohrer Vinzenz

Other matches:

Finland vs. Austria
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Czechia vs. Austria
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Norway vs. Austria
Sun, 19 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Great Britain
Tue, 21 May 2024, 12:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Already played:

Austria vs. Switzerland 5:6 (2:1,2:3,1:2)
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 13.512
Austria scorers: Clemens Unterweger (5), Paul Huber (15), Lukas Haudum (22/PP1, 35/PP1), Benjamin Baumgartner (53)
Switzerland scorers: Roman Josi (16/PP2, 30/PP2), Nico Hischier (23, 41/PP1, 60/PP1), Ken Jäger (30/PP1)

Austria vs. Denmark 1:5 (1:2,0:1,0:2)
Sat, 11 May 2024, Prague Arena, 16:20
Austria scorer: Manuel Ganahl (20) 
Denmark scorers: Markus Lauridsen (14), Frederik Storm (17/SH1), Joachim Blichfeld (39, 59/PP1), Felix Scheel (54)