For the Austrians, in the meantime, this was an encouraging efficiency after their sudden elevation to the highest division. Despite permitting an early objective there have been possibilities to get again on degree phrases, however Marcus Hogberg was solely crushed as soon as within the Swedish internet. As not too long ago as February, Roger Bader was making ready his group for Division IA motion, however Belarus not collaborating introduced Austria again to the highest desk for the primary time since relegation in 2019.
Sweden’s captain, Oliver Ekman Larsson, cautioned towards under-rating Austria. “They’re a good team. They work hard, they can skate and they’ve got some good players. We knew it was going to be a tough game.
“But general, I like that we received a win. We did some great things, I believed, and there’s some stuff we have to clear up. There had been some nerves going into the primary sport too.”
His Austrian counterpart, Thomas Raffl, also took positives from the game. “We had been purported to be at a unique match (Division 1A) however our preparation didn’t change a complete lot,” he said. “We performed higher groups in pre-tournament video games and I believed we did good there, and we’ve carried it into this match and had a fairly good begin right here.
“There’s always parts you can improve, playing against teams that are a higher level than you’re used to all season, but I believe we’re going to get better as the tournament goes on.”
When Sweden opened the scoring within the third minute, it was simple to concern for Austria. Joel Kellman discovered the way in which previous Bernhard Starkbaum with solely the second shot of the sport, capitalizing on Carl Klingberg’s good work behind the web, and gave the Tre Kronor an ideal begin.
“We got a long play in the O-zone,” stated Kellman. “It was a strong play by Klingberg behind the net and he found me in an open place in the slot, and I just tried to get the puck to the net.
“It’s all the time enjoyable to attain and to get the primary objective of the sport is all the time essential so we might construct off that.”
For a time, it was the form of one-way site visitors many anticipated earlier than the puck was dropped. Klingberg was denied by the crossbar on seven minutes as his shot regarded for the highest shelf however clipped the goalie’s pad on the way in which.
However, the Austrians are decided to take advantage of their likelihood at this degree and began to indicate what they had been fabricated from. Sweden prompted its personal issues, firing a free move into centre ice and alluring the turnover; if Ali Wukovits had gathered the puck cleanly in entrance of the web, he might have significantly examined Hogberg.
And Hogberg needed to be alert once more to disclaim Benjamin Nissner when the vigorous Salzburg winger discovered a niche within the Swedish defence and pinged in a shot that was padded away. Nissner, 24, spent a season enjoying within the Allsvenskan earlier than returning to his homeland in 2020.