World Cham­pi­onship 2023: Austria lose 2:6 to Denmark in Tampere

Head Coach Roger Bader opted for David Kickert as the starting goaltender in the third World Championship game, with Bernhard Starkbaum serving as backup. This time, Paul Huber, Ali Wukovits and Mario Huber formed the first line. Bernd Wolf and Thimo Nickl were once again paired together on defence. 

The second five-man unit remained unchanged. Benjamin Nissner centred the second line, with Thomas Raffl and Peter Schneider on his wings, while Dominique Heinrich and Kilian Zündel played on defence. Marco Rossi lined up at centre on the third line, alongside Dominic Zwerger and Lukas Haudum. Nico Brunner and David Maier played at the back. 

On the fourth line, centre Oliver Achermann played alongside Manuel Ganahl and Lucas Thaler. Philipp Wimmer and Steven Strong formed the fourth defensive pairing.

Both teams wasted no time and played with attacking intent. Thomas Raffl had a good opportunity right at the start, before Austria successfully killed off their first early penalty. Shortly afterwards, the ÖEHV side had their first power play, with Mario Huber creating the best chance, but Denmark goaltender Frederik Dichow made a strong save. Following a save by David Kickert, Nikolaj Ehlers collected the rebound and placed the puck into the net to make it 1:0 for Denmark (at 10). 

After that, the red-white-red dominated play and were able to put Denmark under pressure in the offensive zone for periods. With just under three minutes remaining in the period, Austria were unlucky when Oliver Achermann deflected a shot by Dominique Heinrich onto the post.

The second period initially produced an open exchange, with Head Coach Heinz Ehlers' team attempting to control the game with their lead. Austria finally struck on the next power play: Peter Schneider fired a shot and the puck went into the net off Thomas Raffl's skate to make it 1:1 (at 28). 

The game now became more intense and turbulent. There were scoring chances at both ends. David Kickert kept the scores level with some good saves. At the other end, Thomas Raffl had a chance to take the lead from close range following a spinning shot by Peter Schneider. With just under seven minutes remaining in the period, David Kickert denied Nikolaj Ehlers on a breakaway. Denmark took the lead again: Niklas Andersen fired home a powerful shot to make it 2:1 (at 34).

In the final two minutes, the ÖEHV side built up another spell of pressure and penned Denmark in. Thimo Nickl alone fired the puck at Dichow three times, but it would not find its way into the net.

Austria came out strongly for the final period: after just a few seconds, Benjamin Nissner had a great chance to equalise, placing a shot against the left post. Marco Rossi was denied immediately afterwards. Denmark made it 3:1 with their first shot, as defenceman Jesper Jensen Aabo hammered the puck into the net (at 47). 

Austria quickly pulled one back: Marco Rossi delivered a perfect backhand pass to Peter Schneider, who scored to make it 2:3 (at 49). Denmark restored their two-goal lead on the next power play through Nicklas Jensen (at 52). Shortly afterwards, Matias Lassen made it 5:2 (at 54), which decided the game. With three minutes remaining, Patrick Russell put the finishing touch on the game with the 6:2 goal (at 58). Peter Schneider was named Austria's best player.

Head Coach Roger Bader: "I find it extremely bitter, firstly to lose and then by this scoreline. It does not even come close to reflecting what was shown. We did a great many things very well and correctly today, as we had intended. There were definitely two shots off the post, perhaps even three. We came back strongly after the 1:2, had some strong spells, and I think the goal we conceded while shorthanded, despite playing the penalty kill well, took a bit of the wind out of our sails. The puck really bounced Denmark's way as well. If I take the result out of it, the performance actually gave me a lot of cause for optimism in many areas."

USA await on Wednesday 

There is not much time for the red-white-red players to catch their breath. Austria face the USA on Wednesday at 15:20, after they beat Finland 4:1 in their opener and Hungary 7:1, before also narrowly defeating Germany 3:2. "The USA have a really strong team. We must not get the wrong impression just because we went to overtime against them last year. Their results so far have also shown how strong they are," analyses Head Coach Roger Bader. "We are not without a chance against the USA either, although they naturally have a strong team. Now it is about recovering; two games within 24 hours, but it is what it is, we will pick ourselves up and get back on our feet!"

Denmark vs. Austria 6:2 (1:0,1:1,4:1)
Tue, 16 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
Denmark goalscorers: Nikolaj Ehlers (at 10), Niklas Andersen (at 34), Jesper Jensen Aabo (at 47), Nicklas Jensen (at 52/PP1), Matias Lassen (at 54), Patrick Russell (at 58)
Austria goalscorers: Thomas Raffl (28./PP1), Peter Schneider (49.)

The current IIHF World Championship standings

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

Remaining schedule:
Dates and times refer to our local time zone, with local time shown in brackets.

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

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

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

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

Already played:

France vs. Austria 2:1 AET (1:0,0:0,0:1,1:0)
Sat, 13 May 2023, 11:20 am (12:20 pm local time)
France scorers: Tim Bozon (20/PP1), Sacha Treille (61/PP1)
Austria scorer: Thomas Raffl (47/PP1)

Sweden vs. Austria 5:0 (1:0,2:0,2:0)
Sun, 14 May 2023, 19:20 pm (20:20 pm)
Sweden scorers: Par Lindholm (4), Marcus Sörensen (27), Patrik Nemeth (39), Leo Carlsson (52), Dennis Everberg (54)

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