Strong final home appear­ance: Austria beat Slovakia 6:3 in Kapfen­berg

It was Austria's 8th win in their 40th meeting. And it had plenty to offer: Kilian Zündel tested Stanislav Skorvanek's pads for the first time after 39 seconds, while Austria also picked up the first two-minute penalty of the game ten seconds later, with Lucas Thaler sent to the box for holding. The power play lasted just nine seconds before Oliver Okuliar made it 1:0 for the visitors.

It was a ruthless start from the Slovaks, but the home side remained equally unfazed. Ten seconds later, Marco Rossi won the face-off in the offensive zone and the puck found its way to Mario Huber, who promptly made it 1:1. Austria were the dominant team on the ice, and that was soon reflected on the scoreboard. In the 7th minute, Dominique Heinrich fired the puck into the top corner to make it 2:1.

Austria created high-quality chances in front of the Slovak net almost every minute, with the post also coming to the visitors' rescue to prevent them from falling further behind.

Austria went on the power play in the 9th minute, but a misunderstanding in the build-up was exploited by Andrej Kudrna to make it 2:2. Rot-Weiss-Rot were back on the power play in the 14th minute when Slovakia won possession and made it 3:2. However, Lukas Haudum used the same power play to level the score at 3:3.

Nissner scores game-winning goal

Just 75 seconds into the second period, Benjamin Nissner sent the approximately 2.200 fans in Kapfenberg into celebration again, positioning himself perfectly in front of the opposition net and steering the puck home for a 4:3 lead.

Slovakia responded by taking goaltender Stanislav Skorvanek off the ice. But Samuel Hlavaj also had to pick the puck out of his net, just 48 seconds after coming on.

In the 23rd minute, number 23, Marco Rossi, made it 5:3, superbly set up by Mario Huber, who unselfishly laid the puck off to his teammate. As strong as Austria were in the offensive zone, they were equally determined in their defensive zone. Then there was Bernhard Starkbaum, who came out on top against the advancing Robert Lantosi in the 25th minute.

Lukas Haudum was on hand again on another power play in the 31st minute, reacting quickest in a scramble in front of goal to increase the lead to 6:3 with a backhander. With a three-goal advantage behind them, Austria remained the dominant side until the end. Following their 3:2 overtime win at the Deutschlandcup last autumn, they were victorious once again in their final home game before the 2023 World Championship.

Head Coach Roger Bader: "Yes, we were the better team today. The win was deserved. Things went well for us too; we responded well to conceding goals, such as after 0:1 and 2:3. That helped. The 2:2 and 2:3 were preceded by turnovers when we were trying to create something. It is better for that to happen now than at the World Championship. Mistakes like that sharpen the senses once again. You realise that you have to be even more consistent. In general, we still need to improve in many areas. We were good in the defensive zone at times, but not very good yet. Whenever we played the direct hockey that I am aiming for, it was good. But we also had some turnovers when we tried to over-combine, and we conceded counter-attacks. Slovakia will certainly respond. It is also their final warm-up game on Saturday and they are playing at home. I expect a strong Slovak team on Saturday, without question."

Marco Rossi: "It was important for me to come here straight away, get used to the ice and settle into the team. I am part of the team, I am worth just as much as everyone else, and that is why I came here immediately. I think we are a very good line; the chemistry with Mario Huber and Dominic Zwerger is good. You could already see that in training. We understand each other very well and talk to each other a lot. Now it is important that we keep playing like this. Today's win has certainly given us confidence."

Warm-up game:

Austria vs. Slovakia 6:3 (3:3,3:0,0:0)
Thu, 4 May 2023, 18:30, Kapfenberg
Austria goalscorers: Mario Huber (2nd), Dominique Heinrich (7th/PP1), Lukas Haudum (15th/PP1, 31st/PP1), Benjamin Nissner (22nd), Marco Rossi (23rd)
Slovakia goalscorers: Oliver Okuliar (1st/PP1), Andrej Kudrna (9th/SH1), Miloš Kelemen (14th/SH1)

Live scoring, line-ups and statistics in the Game Centre

SENIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM DATES AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WARM-UP SCHEDULE

Team camp 5
2–6 May 2023, Kapfenberg

Further friendly match

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 6 May 2023, 16:00, Trencin (SVK)
Live on ORF SPORT +

86TH IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

12 May 2023 – 28 May 2023, Tampere (FIN) and Riga (LAT)
Group A, Tampere: Finland, USA, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Hungary
Group B, Riga: Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Slovenia

Schedule
Dates and times refer to our local time zone, with the local time shown in brackets.

France vs. Austria
Sat, 13 May 2023, 11:20 (12:20 local time)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights on 18 May at 22:00 on ORF SPORT +)

Sweden vs. Austria
Sun, 14 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20 local time)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

Denmark vs. Austria
Tue, 16 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20 local time)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 23:15 on ORF SPORT +)

USA vs. Austria
Wed, 17 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 22:00 on ORF SPORT +)

Austria vs. Germany
Fri, 19 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Finland
Sat, 20 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
LIVE on ORF1 (highlights at 22:15 on ORF SPORT +)

Austria vs. Hungary
Mon, 22 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
LIVE on ORF SPORT +

All information and the full schedule can be found at www.iihf.com