Strong perfor­mance goes unre­warded – narrow defeat against World Cham­pi­onship hosts Czechia

"A lot was already very good in Budweis, but the result was a little too emphatic. We already implemented much of what we had set out to do there, namely playing more aggressively in our own zone. But today was another step up. The first and third periods were very good," summed up Head Coach Roger Bader after the second 60 minutes against World Championship hosts Czechia this week.

Nico Feldner gave Austria the lead at 14, but they then had to concede the equaliser shortly before the first break. Up to that point, they had matched the six-time world champions well, disrupting their build-up play and repeatedly winning the puck, particularly in their own zone.

In the middle period, Austria's neighbours took the upper hand, first taking the lead on the power play before extending it to 3:1 at 30. Austria were able to raise their game again in the final period, once more impressing in their own zone and with their continued direct play. The reward: Leon Wallner scored to make it 2:3 at 58, earning the team a standing ovation in the end.

Leon Wallner: "The game was very structured. We were able to take a big step forward. We have to take that with us into the coming weeks. My team-mates worked the goal really well. I only had to finish it. Had the game gone on for a few more minutes, we might perhaps have scored the equaliser."

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION

Austria vs. Czechia 2:3 (1:1,0:2,1:0)
Sat, 20 April 2024, 18:00, Linz
Austria goalscorers: Nico Feldner (at 14), Leon Wallner (at 58)
Czechia goalscorers: Daniel Gazda (at 18), Jakub Rychlovský (at 25/PP1, at 30)

Germany vs. Austria
Thu, 25 April 2024, 19:00, Garmisch (GER)

Austria vs. Germany
Sat, 27 April 2024, 16:15, Zell am See, live on ORF SPORT +

Austria vs. Canada
Sun, 5 May 2024, 19:00, Vienna, live on ORF SPORT +

Tickets for all home games are available HERE available.

Already played:

Latvia vs. Austria 3:2 after penalties (0:1, 1:0, 1:1)
Thu, 4 April 2024, 18:00 (CEST), Riga (LAT)
Austria goalscorers: Leon Wallner (16 min), Julian Metzler (43 min)
Latvia goalscorers: Feliks Egils Gavars (26 min), Dans Locmelis (46 min)

Latvia vs. Austria 3:2 after penalties (1:0, 1:2, 0:0, 0:0)
Fri, 5 April 2024, 18:00 (CEST), Riga (LAT)
Austria goalscorers: Nico Feldner (31 min), Ian Scherzer (36 min)
Latvia goalscorers: Martins Lavins (11 min), Haralds Egle (34 min)

Slovenia vs. Austria 5:2 (3:0,1:1,1:1)
Thu, 11 April 2024, 19:00, Ljubljana (SLO)
Slovenia goalscorers: Ken Ograjenšek (2 min), Nik Simšič (8 min), Anže Kuralt (12 min), Jan Drozg (34 min), Žan Jezovšek (58 min)
Austria goalscorers: Nico Brunner (39 min/PP1), Senna Peeters (47 min)

Austria vs. Slovenia 0:6 (0:0,0:4,0:2)
Fri, 12 April 2024, 18:00, Villach
Slovenia goalscorers: Matic Podlipnik (21 min/PP1), Anže Kuralt (32 min/PP1, 34 min/PP1, 37 min), Jan Drozg (44 min), Ken Ograjenšek (52 min)

Czechia vs. Austria 5:1 (2:0,1:1,2:0)
Thu, 18 April 2024, 17:10, Budweis (CZE)
Czechia scorers: Adam Kubík (3/PP1), Andrej Šustr (18), Jakub Galvas (25), Jiří Černoch (51), Michael Špaček (53)
Austria scorer: Benjamin Baumgartner (29)

2024 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

10 - 26 May 2024 - Hosts: Czechia
Venues: Prague and Ostrava
Group A – Prague: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Great Britain
Group B – Ostrava: USA, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland

Schedule:

Austria vs. Denmark
Sat, 11 May 2024, 16:20, live on ORF 1

Austria vs. Switzerland
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

Canada vs. Austria
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, live on ORF SPORT +

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 +