Austria’s national ice hockey team is still without a victory at the World Cup in Denmark even after the third game. The ÖEHV team lost 2:4 (1:1,0:2,1:1) on Tuesday.
Brian Lebler brought Austria into the lead early on (2nd). Marcel Hascak (5th), Tomas Jurco (23rd) and Christian Jaros (29th) turned the game in favour of the Slovaks. Peter Schneider scored the only goal left for the red-white-red team (42nd), which will be back in action against defending champion Sweden on Wednesday (201.5 hrs). In the final period of pressure, the ÖEHV team scored the Empty Net goal by Michal Kristof a few seconds before the end of the match for 2-4.
Team boss Roger Bader had NHL striker Michael Raffl at his disposal for the first time and therefore changed his lines. Raffl played Center between Brian Lebler and Fabio Hofer, but did not come into play for two thirds. Konstantin Komarek changed to the line with Lukas Haudum and Dominic Zwerger, Alexander Rauchenwald to the wing of the fourth line instead of Daniel Woger, for whom only one place remained in the stands.
The Austrians got off to a good start. After 93 seconds, NHL defender Andrej Sekera unstoppably faked a Lebler shot into his own goal. But the world champion of 2002 fought back quickly. Marcel Hascak used a counterbalance (5.). Then, in the first 20 minutes, a fairly open match developed with better chances for the Slovaks.
In the middle third, the Slovaks took a 3:1 lead. First Tomas Jurco hit the cross corner (23rd), in the 29th minute goalkeeper Bernhard Starkbaum failed, who could not tame a harmless shot by Christian Jaros (29th). Only towards the end of the middle third did the Austrians become dangerous again. Alexander Rauchenwald (36) and Lebler (39) initially missed the chance to score the second goal.
For the final third Bader changed the lines and let Raffl – like the Philadelphia Flyers – play the grand pianos at Komarek’s side. In the 42nd minute, Raffl started with an opening pass from Peter Schneider, who made good use of his second big chance (42nd) and ensured an exciting final third. The ÖEHV team fought and at times also exerted pressure. Lebler (57.) and Hofer (59.) missed their last chances to win points.