Narrow defeat

Libor Hudacek found the net in the second minute. (2.) Austria were therefore behind early on – but the senior national team regrouped and increasingly grew into the game, creating chances as well – although a power play went unused. (6.) Shortly afterwards, Coach Roger Bader’s defence had their hands full. Austria had to survive 1:49 of two-man disadvantage. Thanks to a strong collective effort on the penalty kill and a reliable David Kickert, it remained 0:1 for the time being. (10.) Kickert also came out on top in the following duel against a strongly executed Slovak attack. (12.) As Austria were unable to make use of another power-play opportunity, they remained one goal behind after 20 minutes.

In the middle period, their rehearsed penalty kill came to the fore once again. Bader's side confidently killed off a two-minute penalty. (22.) The Vienna-born goaltender then made a superb save. (25.) Only the power play did not go to the liking of the approximately 100 travelling Austrian fans at the game. Then came the bitter 0:2 from an apparently harmless situation. Martin Gernat was able to celebrate in front of a magnificent crowd. (29.) Slovakia took control and applied pressure, but the score remained 0:2.

The Austrian players also killed off a minor penalty in the third period. Buoyed by this, the puck moved superbly in the final period. Brian Lebler scored the deserved goal to pull one back seven minutes before the end of the game (53.) Lebler and Alexander Pallestrang had previously also been denied from promising positions. Austria were constantly on the front foot, but neither Patrick Obrist nor Dominic Zwerger could convert their major chances. The Austrian national team therefore left the ice as narrow losers. One thing is certain, however: the boys with the eagle on their chests gave a top ice hockey nation a real run for their money.

Head coach Roger Bader:
“Naturally, I cannot be satisfied with the start to the game. We improved against a strong opponent, and from my point of view the final period in particular was really strong. The plan on the penalty kill worked perfectly. We gave a really good account of ourselves and, despite the narrow defeat, we can be proud of ourselves.
Olympic qualification is not over yet. Belarus may have lost to Poland, but they had much more of the game. I think we are on the right track. Naturally, we want to leave the ice as winners in this game.”

Dominic Zwerger:
“Naturally, we are very disappointed shortly after the game. We definitely did not miss by much. Nevertheless, we showed what we are capable of. If we play as we did in the third period, then I am very optimistic about the upcoming games against Belarus and Poland.”

Clemens Unterweger:
“Unfortunately, we had to accept a narrow defeat. We came close and have nothing to reproach ourselves for. Our focus now turns to Belarus. We want to win both games.

Olympic qualification, game 1 in Bratislava
AUT – SVK 1:2 (0:1/0:1/1:0)
Lebler (53.) and Hudacek (2.) Gernat (29.)

Olympic qualification, game 2 in Bratislava
27.08.2021
15:15 (live on ORF Sport +)
AUT – BLR

Olympic qualification, game 3 in Bratislava
29.08.2021
13:30 (live on ORF Sport +)
AUT-POL