Narrow defeat for Austria after come­back bid against Germany in Zell am See

Austria made the 2023 World Championship runners-up work hard from the opening face-off. An aggressive forecheck put Germany under pressure early on, with turnovers repeatedly used to create dangerous chances in front of goal. At the other end, David Kickert provided a reliable presence whenever the neighbours broke into the offensive zone. 

In the middle of the second period, Austria had several high-quality chances and came close to making it 1:0. It was precisely during this phase that Germany struck. Fabio Wagner made it 1:0 to Germany against the run of play. Shortly afterwards, the visitors had a power play. Two Austrian players fell, and Marc Michaelis was on hand to convert the rebound and make it 2:0. 

Austria needed a moment to regain their composure, but then pulled back to 1:2 through Paul Huber in the 40th minute – exactly one second before the second siren. It was already his fourth goal in World Championship preparation.

In the final period, Austria pushed once again for the equaliser. They repeatedly tried their luck with shots from the blue line. It took a power play to bring the deserved breakthrough. Clemens Unterweger fired home with a powerful shot to make it 2:2. A draw after 60 minutes would have been fair and deserved, but Stachowiak capitalised on an Austrian error in their own zone to score Germany's winner.

Head Coach Roger Bader: “I thought it was a good, intense game, just as we had hoped for and expected. It is always like that against Germany. That is why these games are always very good. Both teams had phases in which they were stronger. I thought we were stronger in the first period. The goal to make it 2:2 was deserved at that point. It is a shame that we made the mistake at the end that led to 2:3. I am largely satisfied with the performance.”

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION

Austria vs. Germany 2:3 (0:0,1:2,1:1)
Thu, 24 April 2025, 19:00, Zell am See
Austria scorers: Paul Huber (40th minute), Clemens Unterweger (56th minute/PP1)
Germany scorers: Fabio Wagner (28th minute), Marc Michaelis (29th minute/PP1), Wojciech Stachowiak (57th minute)

Further matches: 

Germany vs. Austria
Sat, 26 April 2025, 17:00, Rosenheim (GER), live on ORF ON and from 18:30 on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Canada
Sun, 4 May 2025, 19:00, Vienna STEFFL Arena, live on ORF SPORT + & Krone TV

Already played:

Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0,1:0,2:0)
Thu, 17 April 2025, 19:00, Znojmo (CZE)
Czechia scorers: Jiří Černoch (19th), Filip Přikryl (27th), Daniel Kurovský (57th), Kristian Reichel (59th)

Hungary vs. Austria 5:1 (0:1,2:0,3:0)
Fri, 11 April 2025, 18:00, Ajka (HUN)
Hungary scorers: Márk Schlekmann (34th/PP1), István Terbócs (39th, 48th), Dominik Horváth (46th/PP1), Gergő Ambrus (49th/SH1)
Austria scorer: Paul Huber (8th)

Hungary vs. Austria 4:2 (1:0,1:1,2:1)
Thu, 10 April 2025, 19:00, Fehervar (HUN)
Hungary scorers: Vilmos Galló (7th/PP1), István Terbócs (33th), Balázs Varga (44th/PP2), Roland Kiss (50th)
Austria scorers: Ramon Schnetzer (34th), Paul Huber (46th)

Austria vs. Latvia 1:4 (0:0,0:2,1:2)
Sat, 5 April 2025, 16:20, Vienna Hall 3 STEFFL Arena
Austria scorer: Dominic Zwerger (53th) 
Latvia scorers: Georgijs Golovkovs (22nd), Anri Ravinskis (39th, 41st), Rihards Bukarts (48th/PP1)

Austria vs. Latvia 2:3 after overtime (1:0,0:2,1:0,0:1)
Fri, 4 April 2025, 16:20, Vienna, Hall 3, STEFFL Arena
Austria scorers: Benjamin Lanzinger (19'), Dominic Zwerger (55')
Latvia scorers: Nauris Sējējs (28'), Kristaps Skrastiņš (29'), Miks Tumānovs (62')

Austria vs. Czechia 4:3 after overtime (0:0,0:1,3:2,1:0)
Sat, 19 April 2025, 17:30, Linz
Austria scorers: Paul Huber (43'). Lukas Haudum (46'), Benjamin Baumgartner (55'/PP1), Dominic Zwerger (61')
Czechia scorers: Jiří Černoch (28'/PP1), Adam Kubík (46'), Jaromír Pytlík (48')

2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

9–25 May 2025, Stockholm, Sweden & Herning, Denmark

Austria vs. Finland
Fri, 09 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Sweden vs. Austria
Sat, 10 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Austria vs. Slovakia
Mon, 12 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Canada vs. Austria
Thu, 15 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 20:20 hrs, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. France
Fri, 16 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20 hrs, live on ORF SPORT + and ORF 1

Slovenia vs. Austria
Sun, 18 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 16:20 hrs, live on ORF SPORT + and ORF 1

Latvia vs. Austria
Tue, 20 May 2025, Avicii Arena, 12:20 hrs, live on ORF 1