Post proves the spoiler: Opening defeat against Sweden

Image information: Austria, with Marco Kasper, battle tenaciously against the Swedes - Photo: GEPA pictures/Daniel Goetzhaber

After a long preparation period featuring ten warm-up games, the big day at the World Championship in Finland had suddenly arrived. At the ice hockey brunch at 11:20 local time (12:20), Austria's men's national ice hockey team faced Sweden, one of the leading contenders for the World Championship title. The roles were clearly defined before the opening puck drop. Austria had only beaten Sweden once in their international history, a 2:1 victory at the 1947 World Championship in Prague.

Austria began the game at Tampere's Nokia Arena in front of almost 7.000 fans, with Bernhard Starkbaum in goal. Manuel Ganahl, Lukas Haudum and Marco Kasper took to the ice on the first forward line, while Thomas Raffl, Benjamin Nissner and Peter Schneider formed the second attacking unit. Brian Lebler, Benjamin Baumgartner and Nico Feldner made up the third line. Ali Wukovits, Oliver Achermann and Paul Huber played on the fourth line.

On defence, Dominic Hackl partnered David Maier, while Dominique Heinrich played alongside Kilian Zündel. Bernd Wolf formed a defensive pairing with Erik Kirchschläger, while Philipp Wimmer defended with Nico Brunner. Sweden had only 17 players in their line-up, with head coach Johan Garpenlöv still awaiting available NHL players to be added to the roster. After an audacious opening shift from Austria, who also created the first good chance, Tre Kronor quickly took a 1:0 lead. Carl Klingberg set up Joel Kellman in the slot from behind the net, and he fired into the top right corner (3.). Austria then survived their first penalty kill well, with Benjamin Baumgartner in the box for hooking.

Austria's best chance fell to Ali Wukovits, who was denied by Sweden goaltender Marcus Högberg (9.). On their second power play, Tre Kronor pinned Austria in their own zone for two minutes, with the players unable to make a single change. Austria came through this difficult spell with the help of goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum. Sweden remained on top, but Austria competed very well in the battles and created another good opportunity through Dominique Heinrich on a rebound (15.). Following a misplaced pass in their own zone, Sweden made it 2:0. Joel Kellman played the puck to Max Friberg, who scored from close range (17.).

With 30 seconds remaining in the period, Austria had truly arrived at this World Championship and got on the scoreboard. Dominique Heinrich launched a quick attack and passed to Peter Schneider on the right, who unleashed a rocket to make it 1:2 for Austria (20.). In doing so, Austria perfectly fulfilled head coach Roger Bader's prediction of who would score the first red-white-red World Championship goal.

Austria kept their shifts short in the second period too, in order to bring maximum energy onto the ice. The Austrian side finally had a power-play opportunity as Henrik Tommernes was sent off for slashing. Austria created some good moments, with Lukas Haudum firing the puck off the crossbar (27.). Shortly afterwards, still on the power play, Brian Lebler put goaltender Högberg under pressure (28.). The ÖEHV team continued to play strongly after the power play and had their next major chance through Paul Huber, who picked out the right post with his shot (29.). An equaliser was in the air at this stage, but unfortunately did not come. Sweden were ruthless at the other end: goaltender Starkbaum could not hold onto the puck after a shot and Joakim Nordström made it 3:1 (33.).

Austria also delivered a strong performance in the final period, seamlessly building on their good preparation and keeping the game open. Sweden were on top, but the red-white-red team were controlled and focused in their own zone. The Bader boys thus managed to keep the final period goalless at 0:0. Goalscorer Peter Schneider was named Austria's player of the game.

Head Coach Roger Bader analysed the opening World Championship game after the final siren: "I am very satisfied with the performance. Against a strong Swedish team, whose quality is even higher than that of all the games we have had in recent weeks, we produced an outstanding performance by Austrian standards. For long stretches, we were able to keep up with the opposition, we were able to match the intensity of the game, and at 2:1, with two shots off the post as well as further good scoring opportunities, we actually had the equaliser on our sticks and would have deserved it at that point. So I am very satisfied with the performance; it was an outstanding game from us!"

Ahead of the game against the USA, Bader is relying on the team's usual preparation: "We will now do what we do after every game: analyse the video and present our findings to the team the following day. These are things we can improve, but also the good plays. We need to recover; the game took a lot of energy!"

Goalscorer Peter Schneider was proud of the performance against Sweden: "We put in a pretty good performance against a very good opponent. We knew it would be a difficult game, but I am really proud of the boys; we all fought until the end and kept the game very close!"

The forward already knows how Austria should approach the USA: "We have to play a little more directly than we did today. We have to make sure we get the puck out of our own zone first and not try to make little plays. But of course, there is a lot of pressure against such a strong opponent; they are not easy to play against. As I said, we have to play more directly and drive to the net more!"

World Championship debutant and Sweden-based player Marco Kasper said after the game: "We can build on this game. We played a good second period and, all in all, you could say that we tried everything, but we have to give even more in the next games!"

Just under 26 hours after the game against Sweden, the next blockbuster awaits the ÖEHV team. Their opponents on Sunday at 15:20 (local time 16:20) are the USA. Austria's record against the USA in ÖEHV history stands at two wins, two draws and 27 defeats. However, the 3:0 victory at the 2001 World Championship in Cologne remains unforgettable. The last meeting was seven years ago and ended 4:1 to the US boys. The USA beat Latvia 4:1 in their opener and seamlessly continued their strong 2021 World Championship, where they won the bronze medal. ORF Sport+ will again broadcast live.

Sweden vs. Austria 3:1 (2:1,1:0,0:0)
Saturday, 14 May 2022, 11:20, Nokia Arena Tampere
Sweden scorers: Joel Kellman (3rd), Max Friberg (17th), Joakim Nordström (33rd)
Austria scorer: Peter Schneider (20th)

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

Further games:

Austria vs. USA
Sunday, 15 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Czechia vs. Austria
Tuesday, 17 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Norway vs. Austria
Wednesday, 18 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Latvia vs. Austria
Friday, 20 May 2022, 19:20, live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Finland
Saturday, 21 May 2022, 15:20, live on ORF Sport+

Austria vs. Great Britain
Mon, 23 May 2022, 19:20, live on ORF Sport+