Austria's Manuel Ganahl scores his penalty shot on Hungary's Bence Balizs to help his team to a shoot-out win at the 2023 World Championship in Tampere, Finland.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDREA CARDIN
Austria reprised its Houdini act from last year, staving off relegation in even more dramatic circumstances with a shoot-out victory over Hungary.
In a must-win game, Roger Bader’s team rallied from 1-3 to force a tie. Then, after Bernhard Starkbaum denied Istvan Sofron in overtime, the Austrians won it in the shoot-out.
Starkbaum got the better of all four of his duels with the Hungarian forwards, while at the other end Manuel Ganahl produced a superb, composed deke under great pressure to give his team the edge. Then Dominique Heinrich went top shelf to put the game beyond Hungary.
"I think when you play really simple all tournament nobody expects that kind of play, so I was waiting for that moment," laughed Ganahl when asked about his shoot-out effort.
The win also banished unhappy memories of 2019 in Bratislava, when Austria was on the other end of a shoot-out verdict and dropped out of the top division at the hands of Italy.
"We’ve been here before," Ganahl added. "But with everything that happened last year, the great feeling in that room, the trust in the guy next to you, we knew today was our day.
"We had a great feeling on the bench, everyone was confident we were going to win and we know with Starky in the net he’s great at saving penalty shots. He reads the game so well. We knew we had great chances and we just needed to keep our cool. I’m really happy that we did it."
For Hungary, a promising campaign in the top division ended in heartache. Despite a memorable win over France, today's defeat means the Hungarians must regroup in Division I.
"It's a sad situation, I would say," reflected forward Karol Csanyi. "We were just one point away from staying in the [elite division]. That would be an historic moment for Hungarian hockey, but we didn't make it today."
This showdown promised an epic clash, and it did not disappoint. With top-flight survival at stake, and only victory good enough for both teams, Austria and Hungary produced an intense encounter.
A breathless battle got started in earnest when Hungary opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Sofron, his country’s leading scorer here, exploited some sluggish Austrian defence to take up a position all alone in front of Starkbaum’s net. Heinrich, forced to choose between hunting the puck and covering the attacker, advanced to meet Csanad Erdely and offered a passing lane to set up Sofron for the opening goal.
However, Hungary’s penalty kill has been an Achilles heel in this tournament and it was exposed once again when Balazs Sebok took a tripping call. This wasn’t a typical power play tally from the Austrians: Erdely lost the puck in centre ice, amid claims of foul play from the Hungary bench, and Mario Rossi took the play behind his own net. From there, he did it all himself, powering coast-to-coast and punishing some poor positioning by the Magyars to tie the game.
"That was unreal," said Peter Schneider. "He's a hell of a player. He usually sets up the other guys, but he just did it himself. You can just see that he's a special player."
There was better news for Hungarian special teams seconds before the intermission. After six games without a power play goal, Sofron ended that drought when he lifted a Sebok feed over Starkbaum’s pad to give his team a slender lead at the first intermission.
Hungarian hope became Hungarian belief early in the third when Milan Horvath unleashed a cannonball from the centre point. Istvan Terbocs did a great job of screening Starkbaum and Hungary had some breathing space with a two-goal lead.
“I thought the first period was definitely not the hockey we wanted to play," Austria's captain Thomas Raffl admitted. "We were heading into a deciding game but we were a little little flat-footed. We just scrambled a bit. Towards the end of the second period, we found our wheels we started skating more, we played simple and I thought halfway through the second period we definitely got our game in hand.”
However, Austria has been here before. Last year, Bader’s team trailed 1-3 against Great Britain before saving its elite status in the third period. Today, the Austrians had more time to recover and embarked on a long expedition towards safety. Within a couple of minutes, Steven Strong made it a one-goal game, living up to his name to muscle the puck over the line amid a scramble on Bence Balizs’ crease.
Csanyi did not feel that quick response upset the Hungarians. "I think we were still playing the same way," he said. "We were battling. We were forechecking hard whenever it was possible. They were defending hard, blocking the shots, but they scored a third one."
That third came on another Austrian power play. Lukas Haudum tied it up with a wicked one-timer from the bottom of the right-hand circle after David Reinbacher and Dominic Zwerger sent the puck zipping around the Hungarian zone.
Neither team could force a winner in the third period. Kristof Papp was closest for Hungary when he almost managed to exploit some hesitation at the heart of the Austrian defence. At the other end, Austria kept testing the Hungarian defence but struggled to conjure a clear opening.
That sent us to overtime with both teams’ destiny still on the line. Sofron had a great chance for a game-winning hat-trick when he joined Sebok in a two-on-one rush but Starkbaum’s pad kept Austria alive. And the goalie pulled off more big saves in the shoot-out to see Austria extend its stay in the top division to three seasons. That's a foundation, and Raffl hopes it could be start of something very big.
"If you look at Switzerland 15 years back they started small too," he said. "But they advanced and made it better every year. There is a chance and hopefully I can be part of it for a couple more years and then just see the boys fly."
In a must-win game, Roger Bader’s team rallied from 1-3 to force a tie. Then, after Bernhard Starkbaum denied Istvan Sofron in overtime, the Austrians won it in the shoot-out.
Starkbaum got the better of all four of his duels with the Hungarian forwards, while at the other end Manuel Ganahl produced a superb, composed deke under great pressure to give his team the edge. Then Dominique Heinrich went top shelf to put the game beyond Hungary.
"I think when you play really simple all tournament nobody expects that kind of play, so I was waiting for that moment," laughed Ganahl when asked about his shoot-out effort.
The win also banished unhappy memories of 2019 in Bratislava, when Austria was on the other end of a shoot-out verdict and dropped out of the top division at the hands of Italy.
"We’ve been here before," Ganahl added. "But with everything that happened last year, the great feeling in that room, the trust in the guy next to you, we knew today was our day.
"We had a great feeling on the bench, everyone was confident we were going to win and we know with Starky in the net he’s great at saving penalty shots. He reads the game so well. We knew we had great chances and we just needed to keep our cool. I’m really happy that we did it."
For Hungary, a promising campaign in the top division ended in heartache. Despite a memorable win over France, today's defeat means the Hungarians must regroup in Division I.
"It's a sad situation, I would say," reflected forward Karol Csanyi. "We were just one point away from staying in the [elite division]. That would be an historic moment for Hungarian hockey, but we didn't make it today."
This showdown promised an epic clash, and it did not disappoint. With top-flight survival at stake, and only victory good enough for both teams, Austria and Hungary produced an intense encounter.
A breathless battle got started in earnest when Hungary opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Sofron, his country’s leading scorer here, exploited some sluggish Austrian defence to take up a position all alone in front of Starkbaum’s net. Heinrich, forced to choose between hunting the puck and covering the attacker, advanced to meet Csanad Erdely and offered a passing lane to set up Sofron for the opening goal.
However, Hungary’s penalty kill has been an Achilles heel in this tournament and it was exposed once again when Balazs Sebok took a tripping call. This wasn’t a typical power play tally from the Austrians: Erdely lost the puck in centre ice, amid claims of foul play from the Hungary bench, and Mario Rossi took the play behind his own net. From there, he did it all himself, powering coast-to-coast and punishing some poor positioning by the Magyars to tie the game.
"That was unreal," said Peter Schneider. "He's a hell of a player. He usually sets up the other guys, but he just did it himself. You can just see that he's a special player."
There was better news for Hungarian special teams seconds before the intermission. After six games without a power play goal, Sofron ended that drought when he lifted a Sebok feed over Starkbaum’s pad to give his team a slender lead at the first intermission.
Hungarian hope became Hungarian belief early in the third when Milan Horvath unleashed a cannonball from the centre point. Istvan Terbocs did a great job of screening Starkbaum and Hungary had some breathing space with a two-goal lead.
“I thought the first period was definitely not the hockey we wanted to play," Austria's captain Thomas Raffl admitted. "We were heading into a deciding game but we were a little little flat-footed. We just scrambled a bit. Towards the end of the second period, we found our wheels we started skating more, we played simple and I thought halfway through the second period we definitely got our game in hand.”
However, Austria has been here before. Last year, Bader’s team trailed 1-3 against Great Britain before saving its elite status in the third period. Today, the Austrians had more time to recover and embarked on a long expedition towards safety. Within a couple of minutes, Steven Strong made it a one-goal game, living up to his name to muscle the puck over the line amid a scramble on Bence Balizs’ crease.
Csanyi did not feel that quick response upset the Hungarians. "I think we were still playing the same way," he said. "We were battling. We were forechecking hard whenever it was possible. They were defending hard, blocking the shots, but they scored a third one."
That third came on another Austrian power play. Lukas Haudum tied it up with a wicked one-timer from the bottom of the right-hand circle after David Reinbacher and Dominic Zwerger sent the puck zipping around the Hungarian zone.
Neither team could force a winner in the third period. Kristof Papp was closest for Hungary when he almost managed to exploit some hesitation at the heart of the Austrian defence. At the other end, Austria kept testing the Hungarian defence but struggled to conjure a clear opening.
That sent us to overtime with both teams’ destiny still on the line. Sofron had a great chance for a game-winning hat-trick when he joined Sebok in a two-on-one rush but Starkbaum’s pad kept Austria alive. And the goalie pulled off more big saves in the shoot-out to see Austria extend its stay in the top division to three seasons. That's a foundation, and Raffl hopes it could be start of something very big.
"If you look at Switzerland 15 years back they started small too," he said. "But they advanced and made it better every year. There is a chance and hopefully I can be part of it for a couple more years and then just see the boys fly."