World Cup hosts too strong

Czech Republic vs Austria – LIVE from 20:20

Keeper Madlener had his hands full.

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

After sensational performances against Canada and Finland, Austria's impressive comeback series at the Ice Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic has come to an end. Roger Bader's team lost 4-0 to the hosts on Friday.

The "Krone" reports from Prague

As expected, the start belonged to the hosts: the Czech Republic pushed the pace in front of over 17,000 fans in the sold-out Prague Arena, coming up against well-organized, combative and very disciplined Austrians who allowed few top-class chances.

When the six-time world champions did get through, the goalkeeper was on hand: David Madlener excelled twice in the first ten minutes - when the Czechs were outshot 9:1: He saved Kubalik's shot to the short corner (7th) as well as the attempt by Sedlak, who had appeared alone in front of him (10th). Kubalik also failed to get the puck under control in front of him in the opening period and Vozenlik put the puck over the goal from close range (8). 

The longer the first period lasted, the fewer chances the Czechs had; Beranek missed the best one (15th). In the 17th minute, the ÖEHV team made its first real offensive statement and was able to establish itself in the opponent's zone: Haudum and Strong's shots were saved by goalie Mrazek, as was Rohrer's attempt shortly afterwards (19). 

Harsh penalty
Austria seemed to be well on their way to surviving the first period without conceding a goal for the first time in this tournament, but 27.2 seconds into the game this plan came to nothing: Unterweger could only stop Kase, who was breaking through, with a foul, and the referees decided on a penalty - a harsh decision: The fouled player unleashed all his routine, let Madlener off with a hook to the left and lifted the disk backhand into the net - the Czechs' 14th shot on goal in the first 20 minutes made it 1:0!

The Austrian team got off to a much better start in the second period: Schneider narrowly missed Rossi's cross-ice pass, and Gudas had committed a foul in the preceding action - giving Raffl and Co. their first overtime game. Which Austria were unable to use to equalize despite several shots.

The world number 16 was now able to keep the game much more open, however, with finishes like Krejcik's (26') a rarity. The underdogs, on the other hand, created danger on the counter-attack, with Rossi finding his master in Mrazek after a Zwerger pass (27).

Nickl and Baumgartner had further opportunities in a period that Austria dictated for a long time. This was also shown by the scoreline in the first eleven minutes of the second period: 7:2 for red-white-red!

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Fotos

In the now open exchange of blows, Madlener saved Tomasek's attempt (34th), the following short-handed game (two minutes for Raffl) lasted only 23 seconds, as captain Cervenak also had to go to the penalty bench after a sticking incident against Wukovits. 

Double strike
Maier came close to equalizing with his finish (36') before he too was sent off for a sticking penalty shortly afterwards. The Czechs then took full advantage of the 4-3 overtime and consequently more space on the ice: Kubalik hammered the puck into the net 4:11 minutes before the end of the second period, unstoppable for Madlener - 2:0! 

Just 1:04 minutes later, the game was decided: Flek didn't even let Baumgartner stop him on his advance and heaved the puck through Madlener's legs - 3:0 (37.).

Anyone hoping for another comeback from Bader's team in the final period was proved wrong after just 1:31 minutes: David Tomasek gave Madlener no chance and made it 4:0 (42'). The Czechs now played freely, the fans in the stands celebrated their victory early and the wave swept through the oval. 

Roger Bader

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"Had no chance in the first period"
"That was a strong performance by the Czechs. We don't need to discuss the fact that they deserved to win. We didn't have a chance in the first period, but again we got into the game much better in the second period and had our chances to score. The powerplay goal pulled the plug a bit," analyzed team boss Bader, who also had words of praise for his team. "We saw a lot of good moments from us in the second and third period, we defended well and also had some good attacks. I thought it was a shame that we couldn't convert a few scoring chances we had into goals," said the Swiss.

Austria - Czech Republic 0:4 (0:1, 0:2, 0:1)
Goals: 
0:1 (20th/penalty) Kase
0:2 (36./PP) Kubalik
0:3 (37') Flek
0:4 (42.) Tomasek

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