After taking on the top team in the tournament on Sunday, Hungary took on the one of the other favorites, Austria on Monday afternoon.
It didn't take long but Austria took a 1-0 in the early minutes of the game, as Dominic Zwerger put a shot past Gergely Arany. The Hungarian team looked like they were not in the game yet in the early parts of the game, which the players and coaches noted after the game.
“We started the game really well, probably because we wanted to win we did not play to our strengths, but as the game progressed we were able to settle down,” said Hungarian assistant coach Bence Svasznek.
Right at the midway point of the first period with Csanád Erdély sitting in the penalty box for slashing, Austria stuck again to make it a two goal lead, this time Zwerger set up Mario Huber for the power play goal. Later in the period Hungary was able to get on the scoreboard themselves as well with a power play goal of their own, skating with the puck Vilmos Galló did a give and go with Erik Keresztury and when he got the puck back he one timed it past Stefan Müller.
In the second period Hungary came out and ready to play, the passes were crisper, they were communicating and playing within the system. Hungary needed some time but eventually everything was clicking. At just about the halfway point of the game Zsombor Kiss won the faceoff in from the left faceoff circle in the Austrian end that Keresztury one timed past the keeper who did not see any of the shot, 2-2.
The penalties kept on stacking up for both teams, it was evident that one of the two teams would end up paying for it. As the minutes rolled off the clock both teams started to get tense and were following through a bit harder on their checks. Towards the end of the period with Hungary pinned in their own end Bence Szabó cleared the puck that looked as though it was going to be iced. Dávid Vizi ran down the puck and the pass turned into a long outlet pass, as the Austrian defencemen skated back down the ice Vizi put the brakes on and waited for the oncoming rush, Vizi made a pass back to the oncoming Roland Vokla who shot out the top for corner from the left faceoff circle to give Hungary the first lead of the game. Austria kep up the attack and peppered the Hungarian goal but Arany stood tall as he pulled out the second period without giving up a goal.
As the game went on in the third period both teams were playing great two way hockey but Hungary was visible playing as a team as Austria started to look sloppy as the game progressed. Five minutes into the third period Gallo scored his second goal of the game, with a scramble in front of the net Gallo took a pass and shot it into the crowd, the puck ended up deflecting off a player and into the net for a two goal cushion.
Just after the goal Keresztury was sent crashing into the boards for which Matthias Hagen got 5+20 for checking from behind and a game misconduct, but Hungary was not able to capitalize on the man advantage, this kept Austria in the game and kept them fired up. With under five minutes left in the game, and Bence Stipsicz in the penalty box for tripping, Austria pulled their goalie in hopes of getting a goal back, instead Erdély jumped on the loose puck skated in untouched and slipped the puck in the empty net to seemingly close the book on Austria. It was visibly noticeable in his celebration that he was not only celebrating the goal but also the impending win “I was so happy about the empty net goal, it put us up by three, even though the game was not over I felt that we had the game.”
With 63 seconds left Dániel Mazzag threw a pass in front of the net from the corner that Stipsicz was able to tap in for the sixth and final goal in a 6-2 come from behind victory.
The game was not as close as the score would indicate, Hungary left the ice happy with their performance and having six out of six points against the top two teams in the tournament while Austria felt that they left come chances out on the ice.
“The game did not start the way we wanted it to since we were down early 2-0, maybe mentally we were still in the locker room but luckily we stood up and found a goal. We knew we just needed one good shot, the guys played great in front of me, they were able to get into the shooting lanes, blocking shots with sticks, skates, hands and feet. The third period was back and forth hockey with both teams having scoring chances we were able score on our chances and came out on top,” said Hungarian goalie Gergely Arany after the game.
Hungarian team captain Csanád Erdély summed it up the team’s performance the best: “It was a really hard exciting game, at the start of the first period we couldn't find the pucks, we lost some battles. In the second period we came out the hard as a team as individuals which was the reason we won.”
U18 Division 1/B world championships
Day 1
Coaches’ Corner:
Austrian coach Dieter Werfring: “Hungary and Austria are at the same level, the problem is our team did not take advantage of the power play, we missed our chances and we did not score, it was the problem and that’s why Hungary won.”
Hungary coach Glenn Williamson: “It was a win on the scoreboard. I have to give my team credit for battling back, Austria is a great team that came out at us real hard, they have a lot of physical players and great speed. It took us some time to adjust, they jumped ahead and we just marched on, we got some goals and good goaltending and stayed with the game plan.
We have to come out and play better at the start of games, we need more energy and focus from the start, we want to be more of the aggressor. Our penalty kill is really working, people were blocking shots, it was a great tough win, it was good for confidence.”
Standings
Hungary 6 points
Japan 6 points
Austria 3 points
Slovenia 3 points
Ukraine 0 points
Poland 0 points
Leading scorers
Points: 5, Yuya Funaka, Japan
Goals: 3, Three Tied
Assists: 3, Three Tied
Words: Szabolcs Závodszky @zavodszky