Third consec­u­tive win

The relegated side against the promoted side was Thursday's matchup for the Austrian national team – without the injured Benjamin Baumgartner, Alexander Rauchenwald, Erik Kirchschläger and Peter Schneider – at the "Beat Covid-19 Tournament" in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Clear favourites going into the game, Austria claimed their third consecutive win at the tournament with a 5:0 victory and recorded their first shutout.

It did not take long for Austria to score their first goal in their fourth tournament game either. Tim Harnisch converted a rebound to give Austria an early 1:0 lead (6 minutes). Marco Richter put Austria on course for victory against physically imposing opponents in the first period (11 minutes). At the start of the second period, Romania created their first scoring chances of the game, but goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum was always alert and kept a clean sheet until the final whistle.

Midway through the game, Austria stepped up the pace once again and pulled away to 4:0 with goals from Benjamin Nisser at 29 – his first in the national team jersey – and Manuel Ganahl on the power play at 31. In the final period, 19-year-old Lucas Thaler scored his fourth goal of the tournament to become Austria’s leading scorer.

"Romania are an awkward opponent who fought until the end and never gave up. We deserved to win the game, but could have scored one or two more goals," said head coach Roger Bader. "Young players scored goals again, and we can be satisfied with this game. France will certainly be favourites on Friday. We want to win the game and finish the season on a positive note." This final game takes place on Friday at 13:00, with ORF Sport+ and LAOLA1.at broadcasting LIVE once again.