World Cham­pi­onship 2023: Austria win penalty shoot-out thriller against Hungary and secure top-divi­sion status!

Head Coach Roger Bader opted for Bernhard Starkbaum as the starting goaltender for the decisive World Championship game. David Kickert served as the backup goaltender. The first line remained unchanged, featuring Ali Wukovits, Lukas Haudum and Mario Huber. Bernd Wolf and Thimo Nickl played on defence. 

Benjamin Nissner centred the second line, with Thomas Raffl and Lucas Thaler on the wings. Dominique Heinrich and Kilian Zündel played on defence. The third five-man unit also remained unchanged: Marco Rossi lined up at centre, alongside Dominic Zwerger and Peter Schneider. David Reinbacher played with Nico Brunner. Oliver Achermann played at centre on the fourth line, with Manuel Ganahl and Paul Huber on the wings. Steven Strong and David Maier were paired on defence.

Austria began the decisive match with energy and had the first power play early on, but were unable to use it to take the lead. Following the ÖEHV side's strong start, Hungary also found their way into the game and took a 1:0 lead through István Sofron from the slot (in the 9 minute). On the next power play, Marco Rossi showed courage in front of his own net, embarking on a quick solo run before beating Hungary goaltender Bence Bálizs to level the scores at 1:1 (in the 13 minute). Bernd Wolf had the next good opportunity but was unable to put the puck into the opposition net from close range. Just under two minutes before the end of the period, Thomas Raffl was sent to the penalty box, and István Sofron deflected the puck to make it 2:1 for Head Coach Kevin Constantine's team 39 seconds before the first siren (in the 20 minute).

Red-White-Red began the second period on the front foot, but Hungary made it 3:1. Milan Horvath fired from the blue line and found the far corner (in the 25 minute). Peter Schneider then had the chance to pull one back following a strong burst forward, but was denied by goaltender Bence Bálizs. 

Shortly afterwards, the ÖEHV side scored their second goal: David Maier sent the puck towards the net and Steven Strong poked it home from the scramble to make it 2:3 (in the 27 minute). The match became more exciting by the minute: Austria pushed for the equaliser, while Hungary remained dangerous and repeatedly appeared in front of goaltender Bernhard Starkbaum. 

After 35 minutes, Austria had their next power play. It took a while for the Austrians to establish themselves in the offensive zone. Dominic Zwerger provided a perfect pass for Lukas Haudum, who fired home a powerful one-timer to equalise at 3:3 (in the 38 minute).

Austria survived a spell shorthanded right at the start of the final period. Mario Huber had the first good chance, attempting to surprise Bence Bálizs with a wraparound move. Benjamin Nissner then tested the Hungarian netminder, but his shot was too central. As the game went on, Austria applied increasing pressure and were able to establish themselves in the offensive zone. Marco Rossi drove forcefully towards the net but could not get the puck over the line. The game was now on a knife edge. Neither side scored another goal, sending the match into overtime, played three-on-three. Neither team was able to find a winner there either, setting up the ultimate showdown: a penalty shoot-out.

Manuel Ganahl scored with Austria's first attempt, after which Peter Schneider and Marco Rossi were unsuccessful. At the other end, Bernhard Starkbaum did not concede. Dominique Heinrich sealed it with his attempt as Austria won the thriller against Hungary 4:3 after a penalty shoot-out, securing top-division status for the second successive year. The ÖEHV side remain in the top division and will compete at the World Championship in the Czech Republic, hosted in Prague and Ostrava, from 10 to 26 May 2024. 

Marco Rossi was named Austria's best player. This was followed by the selection of the tournament's three best players: captain Thomas Raffl, Peter Schneider and Marco Rossi were awarded this honour. Finally, the Austrian national anthem rang out at the Nokia Arena.

Head Coach Roger Bader following the nerve-racking match and securing top-division status: "Of course, it is very special on the bench. I had the best standing place in the arena; I was right there. I expected it to be a difficult game. I was in my world, in my flow. I did not notice anything outside that flow; I focused solely on coaching well. I think I managed that; I did not become nervous. For the seventh time in seven games, we went 0:1 behind. Hungary were strong in the first period; they carried the momentum from yesterday's Germany game with them. Having a rest day is often not an advantage, because the others are fully in it. And we needed a little time to get into the game. But over the course of the game, over time, it is an advantage to have a rest day. From the second period onwards, though, I saw us as clearly the better team; we dominated. After going two goals down, it was important that the fourth line battled for that goal. From that moment on, we were clearly better. The 3:3 after 60 minutes was a little flattering, because we had significantly more shots and scoring chances. A penalty shoot-out always involves luck, but I think we deserved that luck today!"

With top-division status secured, attention is already turning to the future, with Head Coach Roger Bader planning the next steps: "We will analyse the games in great detail. I will watch all the games again carefully, and then I will also have teaching videos put together; we did that last year as well. To see what works when we do it well and what does not work when we do not do it well. To learn from that. There is also the Congress this week, where I will speak to other sporting directors to arrange games. One thing is already confirmed: we will play in the Deutschland Cup again in November. In February, we will again have the tournament featuring France, Norway and Denmark. We are still open in December, and then World Championship preparation begins!"

Dominique Heinrich, scorer of the decisive penalty: "It is incredible; this is the kind of game you dream of when you dream of an ice hockey game. I am simply happy that we came out as winners, and I am really proud of the whole team. We stayed positive because it was not the easiest game for us from the start. We did not get off to such a good start and gave away the goals too easily. We showed a great deal of character and spirit, and we stayed calm. That paid off in the end. We are all absolutely delighted that we came out as winners!"

Marco Rossi, Austria's best player of the evening: "It is incredible. The first World Championship is something special. Before the World Championship, we knew that our big goal was to secure top-division status. We are all absolutely delighted today; it was a superb performance today. We knew it would go right to the end today, as the Hungarians always play hard. We were 1:3 down; the most important thing for us was that we all stayed positive. There was no unrest on the bench; we felt on the bench that everything was going according to plan. Of course, being 1:3 down was not ideal, and in overtime and the penalty shootout you also need a bit of luck. Bernhard Starkbaum helped us a great deal, and every player gave everything."

Speaking about his goal, the Vorarlberg native said: "I saw a gap on the power play and then I just drove through. At first, I did not even see that the puck was in; I thought the goalie had it, and then I only saw how happy my team-mates were. Then I knew, okay, it was in!"

Austria vs. Hungary 4:3 n.P. (1:2,2:1,0:0,0:0,1:0)
Mon., 22 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
Austria scorers: Marco Rossi (13th/PP1), Steven Strong (27th). Lukas Haudum (38th/PP1); Manuel Ganahl and Dominique Heinrich with the decisive penalties.
Hungary scorers: István Sofron (9th, 20th/PP1), Milan Horvath (25th)

Line-ups

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

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

Already played:

France vs. Austria 2:1 n.V. (1:0,0:0,0:1,1:0)
Sat, 13 May 2023, 11:20 (12:20 local time)
Goalscorers for France: Tim Bozon (20 / PP1), Sacha Treille (61 / PP1)
Goalscorer for Austria: Thomas Raffl (47 / PP1)

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

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

USA vs. Austria 4:1 (0:0,2:1,2:0)
Wed, 17 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
Goalscorers for the USA: Rocco Grimaldi (28), Carter Mazur (39), Lane Hutson (44), Nick Perbix (58 / EN)
Goalscorer for Austria: Thomas Raffl (38 / PP1) 

Austria vs. Germany 2:4 (1:2,0:1,1:1)
Fri, 19 May 2023, 19:20 (20:20)
Goalscorers for Austria: Bernd Wolf (12'), Lukas Haudum (54')
Germany goalscorers: Nico Sturm (5', 59'/EN), Parker Tuomie (17'), Wojciech Stachowiak (34')

Austria vs. Finland 1:3 (1:2,0:0,0:1)
Sat., 20 May 2023, 15:20 (16:20)
Austria goalscorer: Dominic Zwerger (5')
Finland goalscorers: Kasperi Kapanen (2'), Antti Suomela (8'), Ahti Oksanen (59')

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