Ice Hockey World Championship

Austria wants to surprise against Switzerland

Austria fought to the end, but in the end it was the Swiss who won.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria performed impressively in the second game at the Ice Hockey A World Championships in the Czech Republic, offering the heavy favorites Switzerland a great exchange of blows in the Prague Arena: Roger Bader's team was initially 2:0 and 3:1 ahead against the Swiss, then equalized the score at 3:4 and, thanks to Baumgartner, at 4:5 in the final. 50 seconds before the end, however, Hischier scored for Switzerland to win 6:5!

One day after the bitter 1:5 against the Danes, Austria looked transformed against Switzerland in Prague. With Baumgartner fit again and Kickert in goal instead of Madlener, the underdogs got off to a flying start: Unterweger fired the first shot at Switzerland goalie Berra after just 50 seconds, then Raffl aimed over the goal and Nissner failed to beat Berra after a fine individual move (3rd). The fourth red-white-red shot came after exactly 4:15 minutes: After Rossi won the face-off, Clemens Unterweger took the puck and slammed it into the right corner just past the blue line (5th) - the first senior goal for the 32-year-old defender in his fourth appearance!

The table:

Switzerland seemed surprised by their opponents' courageous performance and barely managed to score in the early stages. Thankfully, Austria's first blunder had no consequences: The Swiss skated in a 3:1 overtime on the very strong Kickert, who saved Josi's shot. The ÖEHV team were unable to capitalize on their first overtime game (15th), but 5:27 minutes before the end of the first period, the fourth attacking line made it 2:0: Berra let Rohrer's shot bounce back to the front and Paul Huber pushed the puck over the line in a scramble.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Swiss head coach Patrick Fischer read his team the riot act, and with Austria's support they managed to score the final goal: first Zwerger was sent to the penalty bench for two minutes for tripping, then the Bader team took another penalty while short-handed due to a substitution error. Switzerland needed just four seconds to reduce the deficit in a 5-3 overtime game: Josi gave Kickert no chance with a slap shot (17'). Austria's goalie prevented the 2:2 with two strong saves (18.).

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

The underdogs took advantage of a power play at the start of the second period to make it 3:1: Haudum hammered the ball under the crossbar after a pass from Zwerger (22'). The two-goal lead only lasted 38 seconds, however, as Hischier reduced the deficit to 2:3 just before Kickert. Austria then kept the game open, with Kickert saving Bertschy (27) and Hischier hitting the outside of the net (28). With Baumgartner on the penalty bench, Switzerland hit the crossbar and Maier immediately afterwards prevented Ambühl from clearing the ice, also serving two minutes.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

With 5 against 3 on the ice, the Swiss initially tied the game at 3:3: Kickert first made saves against Hischier and Ambühl, but was then powerless against Josi. Just 13 seconds later, Switzerland took the lead for the first time thanks to Jäger, who was still outnumbered (5-4). But Rossi & Co., who continued to put up a great fight against the favorites, had the answer, also in overtime - Haudum made it 4-4 (35') with his second spectacular goal. The eleventh shot on goal resulted in the fourth goal - very strong! Schneider had the lead shortly afterwards after a pass from Zwerger, but failed to beat Berra from close range, as did Rossi a little later from a tight angle (37').

4:4 going into the final period
With a sensational save against Kurashev, Kickert prevented the team from falling behind again (39'). With the score at 4:4 going into the final period, the sensation was still up in the air. Switzerland replaced Berra in goal with Schmid and took the lead again through Hischier, who once again chased the puck into the net from close range in overtime (two minutes for Wukovits). The ÖEHV team, loudly supported by the crowd, did not give up and almost equalized through Ganahl - Schmid was on hand (42').

Controversial penalty against Wolf in the final spurt
Fortunately for their opponents, the Swiss goalkeeper made a clumsy save in the 53rd minute: The goalie misjudged a Baumgartner flick from the blue line - 5:5! Rossi had the lead on a 2-1 counter-attack, but found his master in Schmid (56'). In the final spurt, when Bernd Wolf was handed a controversial penalty and two minutes after a duel with Ambühl, it was a nail-biter: Kickert first cleared against Kurashev while short-handed (60'), but was beaten by Hischier 50 seconds before the end, who shot in from close range - with one man more on the ice, the equalizer was no longer possible. End 5:6, extremely bitter! But this performance should give Austria plenty of courage for their next games - Canada awaits on Tuesday!

Austria - Switzerland 5:6 (2:1, 2:3, 1:2)

Goals: 1:0 (5.) Unterweger, 2:0 (15.) P. Huber, 2:1 (16./PP) Josi, 3:1 (22./PP) Haudum, 3:2 (23.) Hischier, 3:3 (30.(30./PP) Josi, 3:4 (30./PP) Jäger, 4:4 (35./PP) Haudum, 4:5 (41./PP) Hischier, 5:5 (53.) Baumgartner, 5:6 (60./PP) Hischier.

Austria played with: Kickert; Zündel, Heinrich; Wolf, Unterweger; Maier, Strong; Brunner, Stapelfeldt; Schneider, Nissner, T. Raffl; M. Huber, Rossi, Zwerger; Haudum, Baumgartner, Ganahl; Rohrer, Wukovits, P. Huber.