It was simple, if Hungary wins in regulation they would take the three points and keep hopes alive for promotion, anything less would mean that 2015 will be back in Division 1A.
There were a number of things that needed to be worked on after going two straight games without scoring a goal. The lines got a shake up as János Vas missed the game with an upper body injury.
The opening minutes of the game looked even but as the game went on the Hungarians look somewhat fresher than the Austrians. Hungary was playing at a faster pace compared to the games against Ukraine and Slovenia, and they were moving the puck better. As a result of great passing and puck movement they were able to retain positions for a longer period of time. With the offense seaming to click Hungary has a number of scoring chances but were just not able to put the puck in the net. Austrian goalie Bernhard Starkbaum kept his team in the game as he stopped everything that Hungary throwing at the net.
Austria came out flying for the second period but a high stick penalty early in the period killed their momentum. After having power play problems in the previous two games Hungary converted on the second power play of the period as István Sofron worked the puck Bence Szirányi who’s timer was redirected into the back of the net bz István Bartalis, 1-0 Hungary.
Less than two minutes later Hungary was up 2-0 when Andás Benk skated around behind the net and instead of going for the wrap around goal he left the puck on the doorstep that Balázs Sebők slipped past Starbaum.
At exactly the midway point of the game Austria was awarded a penalty shot, Michael Schiechl took it but the puck ended up in the glove of Zoltán Hetényi.
After going up 2-0 Hungary started to look comfortable and Thomas Hundertpfund made them pay as he stick worked his way through 4 hungarian defenders including putting the puck between the leg of Viktor Tokaji before beating Hetényi to make it 2-1. Austria looked to have woken up and were back in the game. They quickly made it 2-2 with Dominique Heinrich was fed a pass as he was on the far post and unmarked, he put the puck past Hetényi. Hungary picked up their first penalty of the game when Szirányi was called for tripping, Heinrich made them pay immediately when he scored an almost identical goal as to his first one but this time he scored from the other post, 3-2 to Austria.
Hungary was not ready to give and this was seen when Sebők scored his second goal of the game in the last second of play in the period. Sebők took a shot from the slot that made it through traffic but originally the officials could not tell when the pick had crossed the line. Interestingly, with the video replay taking so long, the teams went to the locker room and the goal was not announced until the teams came out for the third period.
The third period was all excitement with both teams playing with urgency as a win in regulation would keep Hungary's hopes alive, for Austria making it to overtime would pretty much guarantee a spot next year's world championships. The opening minutes of the period was played at a very high tempo. Mattias Iberer gave Austria the one goal lead but a short time later Hungary had tied it up against when Csaba Kovács skated in and took a shot that ended up in the top shelf.
Unfortunately for Hungary no more goals were scored in regulation and this meant that Hungary would not have a chance to grab one of the two promotion spots.
In overtime Hungary managed only one shot on net but Austria won when Brian Lebler scored the game winner at 3:45 in overtime.
On Saturday Hungary will face a Japanese team that still has a chance to grab the second place finish and Hungary is just playing for pride.
Standings
Austria, 10 points
Japan, 9 points
Slovenia, 9 points
Ukraine, 4 points
Hungary, 4 points
Korea, 0 points
Leading Scorer
Points: 10, Thomas Koch, Austria
Goals: 6, Brian Lebler
Assists: 10, Thomas Koch, Austria
Photo: László Mudra