Germany grabs derby win in a poor game

Both teams met few months earlier in a decisive Olympic qualification clash in Germany where Austrians surprisingly came out victorious. Germany was determined not to slip again, but the start of the game was far from perfect for them.

Austria, boosted by their victory over Latvia, started well and had a great chance just 23 seconds after the game, but Rafll was denied by Rob Zepp in German net. The only notable German chance of the opening period came after five minutes of play courtesy of a lucky bounce, but Pietta failed to react in time and Austrian goalie Bernhard Starkbaum had enough time to dive onto the ice and cover the puck.

Austrians were the more dangerous team also throughout the second period, creating better chances, but eventually failing to convert them. Thomas Hundertpfund was the guilty man after 26 minutes when his one-timer after a quick combination was too slow to beat Zepp.

And these misses eventually proved costly when Marcus Kink took control of the puck in the middle zone three minutes before the end of the second period, danced between three Austrian players and fired in a wristshot past Starkbaum and into the net.

Team Austria had many powerplays throughout the game, but Germany killed all of them including the final one called at 58:28. Starkbaum was pulled and Austrians played with six skaters. Even the 6 on 4 advantage failed to bring rewards for Austrian team. Eventually, Marcus Kink was tripped when clean through on the empty net and a technical goal was awarded to seal the German victory.

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