Austria with brave fights against USA and Canada

28.04.2015: Austria – USA 1:4 (1:1, 0;0, 0:3)

On Tuesday Austria had to face the young American squad. The USA, on their roster, featured a lot of young and upcoming players such as Jach Eichel, Jimmy Vesey or Auston Matthews, but also some current NHLers such as Torey Krug or Trevor Lewis, Stanley Cup champion with the LA Kings

The Americans were looking to put on pressure from the first second on and also found the lead in the 3^rd minute. Mike Reilly, student at the University of Minnesota, hammered one from the blue line and the screened Rene Swette was chanceless. The Austrians were looking for an immediate response and also found one with Philadelphia Flyer’ winger Michael Raffl. The Carianthian did not waste his first chance, proving his scoring skills sniping one perfectly over the shoulder of AHL-goalie Connor Hellebuck.

In the remainder of the period Vesey and KHL-topscorer Steve Moses had the biggest chances for the Americans. Also Austria was dangerous, as Herburger and fan favourite Michael Raffl could not bring the puck behind the line for the home team.

After the first intermission both teams came out hungry, but both goalkeepers were seemingly unbeatable. U18 World Champion Auston Matthews had two great opportunities, but neither he, nor Torey Krug or Michael Raffl for the hosts were able to find the go-ahead-goal in this period.

It would not take long though for Steve Moses to find the lead for the visitors in the final period. The future member of the Nashville Predators, in the 41^st minute, assisted by Boston Bruins’ defenceman Torey Krug, scored for the United States.

With 6 minutes to go Rafael Rotter had the chance for the equalizer, but no luck for the pesky Vienna Capitals’ forward. So it was the USA to decide the game, adding two more goals. In the 54^th minute Auston Matthews deked out Swette, before Jeremy Morin ensured the victory on the man advantage.

29.04.2015: Austria – Canada 2:4 (2:1, 0:2, 0:1)

Even if Canadian head coach Todd McLellan decided to rest superstar Sidney Crosby, the Austrians knew they would have to showcase a strong game if they wanted to be competitive against Team Canada, a team loaded with exceptional skill. Claude Giroux, Jason Spezza, Matt Duchene and Brett Burns were only a few names on the loaded Canadian lineup.

The 7000 fans in the sold out ‘Albert Schulz Halle’ though did not see a total domination by Team Canada in the first period. It was actually the home team to score the first goal of the game, as Michael Raffl beat Arizona Coyotes’ goalkeeper Mike Smith with a perfect snapshot. 3 minutes later Claude Giroux, who centered the top line with Tyler Ennis and Tyler Seguin, gave Canada the lead with a nice wrist shot from the high slot area.

The Canadians looked rusty and the Austrian used that to capitalize on the power play. Brian Lebler’s great assist and Raphael Herbuger’s finish gave Austria, who later on even had the chance for their third goal, the surpising lead after 20 minutes of play.

Canada’s star formation’s approach at the Worlds is to improve period by period and so in the second frame, they came out with much more firepower. It was though also time to shine for Austrian goalkeeper Bernhard Starkbaum, as he made some impressive saves on Jordan Eberle and Nathan MacKinnon to keep his team in the game. He could not do much though in the 25^th minute, when Canada’s top line stroke again. Tyler Ennis of the Buffalo Sabres, assisted by Claude Giroux, beat Starkbaum on the blocker side.

The 27^th minute featured a special moment for Jamie Fraser and all local fans, as he scored the go-adead-goal for Team Canada. An extraordinary moment for the 29 year old member of the Vienna Capitals, who not only had the honour to play for Canada in this exhibition match, as the ‘Maple Leafs’ are awaiting reinforcements from the NHL, but even managed to score with a shot from the point.

Shortly after the Austrians thought they had found the equalizer again, but following the video review, the referees decided it was no goal. The 35^th minute probably featured the save of the game, as Starkbaum denied Giroux and Seguin on a 2 on 0 situation. Ekblad and Duchene were also not able to beat the Austrian netminder, so the game went into the second intermission with Canada’s close lead.

In the third period Austria continued to be a pesky opponent and had one big chance with Lebler, but in the end Matt Duchene dedided the game with an empty netter.

Still, Austria proved not to be afraid of any opponent and definitely gained some self-confidence in the two games against the North Americans. Adding to that, hockey fans in Austria definitely enjoyed having all those star players in Vienna. 

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