Top-divi­sion status secured! Austria fight for World Cham­pi­onship quarter-final after victory over Norway

Austria head coach Roger Bader relied on goaltender David Kickert against Norway, as he made his 100th appearance for the Austrian national team. David Madlener was in the line-up as the backup. 

The red-white-red side started the game with pressure, immediately creating some good moments in the offensive zone as well as chances. As the first period progressed, Norway also grew into the game and it developed into an even contest. Both teams had good opportunities, but no real clear-cut chances. Austria had their first power-play opportunity after ten and a half minutes, but were unable to make their numerical advantage count. 

Four minutes before the end of the period, Austria produced excellent penalty killing during their first shorthanded situation, saw out the two minutes and immediately afterwards had a power play of their own, but no goal was scored before the first siren.

Quick double strikes set the tone for victory over Norway

The character of the game initially changed little in the second period, although the match became somewhat more disjointed. Both teams operated from a controlled defensive structure and did not take any major risks in the opening minutes. Austria then had another power play, during which Peter Schneider fired home after a pass from Dominique Heinrich to give Austria a 1:0 lead (29). 

Austria followed up: just 40 seconds later, Dominic Zwerger drove powerfully down the left and sent the puck towards the middle, where Norway defenceman Johannes Johannesen deflected it into his own net for 2:0 (29). Austria controlled the match and waited patiently for the next opportunity. With a delayed penalty being called, Peter Schneider fired again and beat Norway goaltender Henrik Haukeland for his second goal of the game and a 3:0 lead (34). 

The closing stages were turbulent: Austria’s power play suddenly turned into a 5:3 power play for Norway in the final minute, but the red-white-red side kept a clean sheet.

Right at the start of the final period, Mario Huber had a shorthanded breakaway chance to make it 4:0, but goaltender Haukeland denied the shorthander. Vinzenz Rohrer then had the fourth goal on his stick after a Norwegian error, but passed once more instead of shooting. A few minutes later, Steven Strong sent the puck off the post. Austria were closer to making it 4:0 at this stage, while the defence was strong in combination with goaltender David Kickert. 

Just under seven minutes from the end, Sander Engebråten scored from the slot to make it 1:3 (54), and the match suddenly became exciting again. Norway pulled goaltender Haukeland late on, Dominic Zwerger stole the puck from Mats Zuccarello in the corner and passed to Mario Huber, who tapped it into the empty net to make it 4:1 (58). 

Austria won 4:1 and secured top-division status early. Forward Peter Schneider was voted Austria’s Best Player after scoring two goals and registering one assist. Head coach Roger Bader’s team will now even fight for a place in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Great joy for head coach Roger Bader and Marco Rossi

Head coach Roger Bader analysed the victory over Norway and the top-division status secured early after the final siren: "In the end, you can say it was assured. But we knew and were prepared for it to be a very tough game, an even game, and that was absolutely the case in the first period. Perhaps the first five minutes belonged to us, but after that it was completely even. We knew we needed a great deal of patience and discipline. We knew that the Norwegians would start playing hard, or overly hard, at some point, that we would have to absorb that and remain tactically disciplined. Of course, the momentum then came our way when you have players like Marco Rossi, who can make plays, or Dominic Zwerger and Peter Schneider, who finish them off. But having mentioned those three players, I would of course like to say: the strength of Team Austria is the collective, another superb goaltending performance, and the fourth line once again played incredibly well. That is a joy!"

The Swiss coach was delighted for his team: "I am very happy. I celebrate on the bench and enjoy it with my coaching staff and my assistant coaches, who naturally have a huge part in the whole success. There will be emotions in the hotel this evening too!"

Forward and playmaker Marco Rossi was relieved after the second win following 60 minutes, which also secured their place in the top division: “We are very pleased; the first objective was to stay in the top division. And now we believe that we can achieve even more. Of course, everything has to go our way now, and our focus is naturally on beating Great Britain. Then we will see what happens with Finland afterwards. It is incredible that we can achieve this as a team; so many fans are backing and supporting us, and we are so grateful for that. I said before the tournament began, ‘belief can move mountains’. If you believe in it, a lot is possible. We played very intelligently today. We knew before the game that the Norwegians are very good with the puck. They want to play very quickly. We knew that when they came at us with a lot of speed, we had to stand our ground and remain patient. With the first goal, the momentum was on our side, then the second and third followed straight away, and it became difficult for Norway to come back!”

Great Britain await on Tuesday to conclude the preliminary round

Following a day off, Austria continue their preliminary round campaign against Great Britain on Tuesday, 21 May from 12:20. The match will be shown live on ORF 1.

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

Norway vs. Austria 1:4 (0:0,0:3,1:1)
Sun, 19 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 16.565

Norway goalscorer: Sander Engebråten (54th minute).
Austria goalscorers: Peter Schneider (29th/PP1, 34th), Dominic Zwerger (29th), Mario Huber (58th/EN)

Austria lined up with:

Goaltenders: 30 Kickert David; 31 Madlener David (backup)
Line 1: 91 Heinrich Dominique - 78 Thimo Nickl; 9 Wukovits Ali - 70 Nissner Benjamin - 96 Huber Mario
Line 2: 92 Unterweger Clemens - 32 Wolf Bernd; 16 Zwerger Dominic - 23 Rossi Marco - 3 Schneider Peter
Line 3: 24 Strong Steven - 12 Maier David; 17 Ganahl Manuel - 98 Baumgartner Benjamin - 21 Haudum Lukas
Line 4: 18 Stapelfeldt Paul - 20 Brunner Nico; 52 Huber Paul - 19 Rohrer Vinzenz - 48 Thaler Lucas

Current IIHF World Championship standings

Next match:

Austria vs. Great Britain
Tue, 21 May 2024, 12:20, live on ORF 1

Already played:

Czechia vs. Austria 4:0 (1:0,2:0,1:0)
Fri, 17 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 17.413
Czechia goalscorers: Ondřej Kaše (20/PS), Dominik Kubalík (36/PP1), Jakub Flek (37/PP1), David Tomášek (42)

Finland vs Austria 2:3 (2:0,0:1,0:2)
Thu, 16 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.387
Finland scorers: Saku Mäenalanen (3), Oliver Kapanen (9)
Austria scorers: Mario Huber (24), Thimo Nickl (50), Benjamin Baumgartner (60)

Canada vs Austria 7:6 AOT (3:1,3:0,0:5,1:0)
Tue, 14 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 14.704
Canada scorers: Dylan Cozens (7), Kaiden Guhle (10), Bowen Byram (14), Jared McCann (23), Connor Bedard (30), Pierre-Luc Dubois (38). John Taveres (61)
Austria scorers: Benjamin Nissner (11), Benjamin Baumgartner (44), Peter Schneider (45, 56), Dominic Zwerger (51), Marco Rossi (60)

Austria vs Switzerland 5:6 (2:1,2:3,1:2)
Sun, 12 May 2024, 20:20, Prague Arena, 13.512
Austria scorers: Clemens Unterweger (5), Paul Huber (15), Lukas Haudum (22/PP1, 35/PP1), Benjamin Baumgartner (53)
Switzerland scorers: Roman Josi (16/PP2, 30/PP2), Nico Hischier (23, 41/PP1, 60/PP1), Ken Jäger (30/PP1)

Austria vs Denmark 1:5 (1:2,0:1,0:2)
Sat, 11 May 2024, 16:20, Prague Arena, 15.719
Austria scorer: Manuel Ganahl (20)
Denmark scorers: Markus Lauridsen (14'), Frederik Storm (17'/SH1), Joachim Blichfeld (39', 59'/PP1), Felix Scheel (54')