The game betweeb Austria and Slovakia was a battle from beginning to end.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
It was a battle for the full 60 but in the end, it was the Austrian national anthem that was played after their 3-2 win over Slovakia after a penalty shootout.
Marco Kasper scored one and added an assist, and David Kickert made 30 saves for Austria. Peter Schneider scored the game-winner in the shootout. Samuel Honzek and Matus Sukel scored for Slovakia in regulation time.
Austria came to their third game of the tournament with zero points, but with a lot of confidence after their games against Finland and Sweden. Slovakia, on the other hand, were looking to build on yesterday’s win over Slovenia.
This time Austria even got points, albeit only two.
“We got the bounces today. It was a good win, the first one. We played really well those first two games. We just have to do more of the same, one game at a time here,” said Austria’s Brian Lebler.
In the first period, it was Austria that had more spring in their step, and they carried the play for most of the period. A few minutes in, Dominique Heinrich had a great chance, but he missed an open net. The Austrians regrouped, Marco Kasper found Bernd Wolf on his left, Wolf carried the puck into the Slovak zone, went around a diving Slovak defenseman and found Schneider in the slot and the big defenseman one-timed it in to make it 1-0 at 7.33.
A few minutes later, Schneider found Kasper on the blueline. He stepped into the zone, and even surrounded by three Slovaks, he somehow managed to keep the puck with him, and was alone with Hlavaj. The Slovak goalie ma de a big poke check, but missed the puck, and Kasper had an easy job to slam the puck into an empty net while flying through the air at 11.22.
“Austria was so much better in the first period, but we came back, and we’re happy we could take it o overtime. Shootouts are hard, and they were better today,” Slovakia’s Pavol Regenda said. “It’s a long tournament, we’ll just focus on the next game."
The second period was a mirror image of the first one in which Austria outshot Slovakia 11-6. Now it was Slovakia that sat in the driver’s seat and ended up outshooting Austria 12-5.
Early in the second period, there was a scrum in Austria’s zone and once the puck came loose, an Austrian defenseman tried to clear the puck but instead, sent it right to the tape of Samuel Honzek. He had a lot of time to see where to shoot the puck, and he sent it upstairs, beating Kickert on the glove side to make it a one-goal game at 6.15.
The Slovaks weren’t done. Halfway through the third, Matus Sukel came flying down the right wing and faked a shot that sent an Austrian defenseman to one knee. Instead, Sukel passed the puck to Samuel Tajac in the corner and drove to the net. Tajac immediately passed the puck back to Sukel who patiently waited for Kickert to make a move and then fired the puck top shelf to tie the game at 10.53.
The battle continued through the overtime, all the way to the final faceoff in Slovakia’s zone with six seconds remaining. Kasper even fired one last shot, but Hlavaj stood tall.
Austria won the shootout 2-1, with Schneider scoring the decisive goal as the last Austrian shooter.
Marco Kasper scored one and added an assist, and David Kickert made 30 saves for Austria. Peter Schneider scored the game-winner in the shootout. Samuel Honzek and Matus Sukel scored for Slovakia in regulation time.
Austria came to their third game of the tournament with zero points, but with a lot of confidence after their games against Finland and Sweden. Slovakia, on the other hand, were looking to build on yesterday’s win over Slovenia.
This time Austria even got points, albeit only two.
“We got the bounces today. It was a good win, the first one. We played really well those first two games. We just have to do more of the same, one game at a time here,” said Austria’s Brian Lebler.
In the first period, it was Austria that had more spring in their step, and they carried the play for most of the period. A few minutes in, Dominique Heinrich had a great chance, but he missed an open net. The Austrians regrouped, Marco Kasper found Bernd Wolf on his left, Wolf carried the puck into the Slovak zone, went around a diving Slovak defenseman and found Schneider in the slot and the big defenseman one-timed it in to make it 1-0 at 7.33.
A few minutes later, Schneider found Kasper on the blueline. He stepped into the zone, and even surrounded by three Slovaks, he somehow managed to keep the puck with him, and was alone with Hlavaj. The Slovak goalie ma de a big poke check, but missed the puck, and Kasper had an easy job to slam the puck into an empty net while flying through the air at 11.22.
“Austria was so much better in the first period, but we came back, and we’re happy we could take it o overtime. Shootouts are hard, and they were better today,” Slovakia’s Pavol Regenda said. “It’s a long tournament, we’ll just focus on the next game."
The second period was a mirror image of the first one in which Austria outshot Slovakia 11-6. Now it was Slovakia that sat in the driver’s seat and ended up outshooting Austria 12-5.
Early in the second period, there was a scrum in Austria’s zone and once the puck came loose, an Austrian defenseman tried to clear the puck but instead, sent it right to the tape of Samuel Honzek. He had a lot of time to see where to shoot the puck, and he sent it upstairs, beating Kickert on the glove side to make it a one-goal game at 6.15.
The Slovaks weren’t done. Halfway through the third, Matus Sukel came flying down the right wing and faked a shot that sent an Austrian defenseman to one knee. Instead, Sukel passed the puck to Samuel Tajac in the corner and drove to the net. Tajac immediately passed the puck back to Sukel who patiently waited for Kickert to make a move and then fired the puck top shelf to tie the game at 10.53.
The battle continued through the overtime, all the way to the final faceoff in Slovakia’s zone with six seconds remaining. Kasper even fired one last shot, but Hlavaj stood tall.
Austria won the shootout 2-1, with Schneider scoring the decisive goal as the last Austrian shooter.
Austria vs Slovakia - 2025 IIHF WM
OF