The men's national team suffered a narrow defeat against Austria in the sixth game of the World Cup preparations. In front of 2.600 spectators in Zell am See, the final score in a hard-fought game was 1:2 after a penalty shootout DEB-Selection. After the game that changed DEB-Team set off on the return journey to Germany.
Im DEBMathias Niederberger, who came to the national team after the DEL playoffs, started the goal today and was the best after the game DEBplayer was chosen. The German goalkeeper had to intervene in the first minute and prevent the Austrians from taking the lead. Only a short time later there was a small penalty against Niederberger for delaying the game. The hosts' power play wasn't very compelling, so the score remained 0-0. After seven minutes, Wojciech Stachowiak made it 1-0. A goal that many in the 2.600 Fans At first they didn't even notice the sell-out ice rink in Zell am See because the German cheering was also subdued. In the twelfth minute, Joshua Samanski had the next opportunity on his own. The lead remained narrow.
The middle section was dominated by DEB-Selection due to their high speed and so they always came up with good opportunities. First, however, the home team had a power play after Mathias Plachta had to go to the penalty box for tripping. And Austria scored, but the goal was disallowed due to obstruction of the goalkeeper. Parker Tuomie came in front of the Austrian goal in the 28th minute with a quick run down the right side, but his shot was parried by the well-positioned goalie, David Madlener. Even Joshua Samanski's direct rebound couldn't get through the crowd in front of the goal. Shortly before the break, Dominik Kahun perhaps had the best chance. After a long pass through the neutral zone, Kahun got past Madlener, but then only hit the post. The German team was denied another goal in the second third.
They were also able to do so in the final third DEB-Men don't cheer. Even though there were still chances, for example from Julius Karrer (47th) and Maxi Kastner (54th), the result remained without another German goal. Lukas Haudum also remained without fortune in the 49th minute: after a German bad pass in his own third, the Austrian had a free shot, but Mario Zimmermann was able to deflect the shot at the last second. Six minutes before the end, goalie Madlener again had the upper hand when Joshua Samanski stormed solo towards the Austrian goal and had the preliminary decision on his stick. In return, the Austrians equalized through Dominic Zwerger (56th). With the 1-1 draw going into extra time, which initially began with a power play for the home team. They were unable to benefit from this and extra time remained without another goal. The Austrians scored twice in the penalty shootout, while the DEB-Shooters were unsuccessful. This test match ended with a victory for Austria.
Next Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the national team will meet in Wolfsburg for the final World Cup preparation phase. The last two international matches against France are on Saturday, May 4th, in Wolfsburg (16:15 p.m.) and Monday, May 6th, 2024, in Weißwasser (19:30 p.m.) before departure for the World Cup in the Czech Republic the agenda.