The teams traded scoring chances early on, but neither Germany’s Veit Oswald nor David Reinbacher managed to score the opening goal. Each team also had a solid game, but that didn’t work out either. However, Germany opened the scoring late in the first period with a pass from behind the net from Julian Lutz to striker Philipp Krenning. Krening’s first shot hit a bunch of guys up front, but he got the rebound and swept it into the empty side at 18:01.
Germany doubled their lead early in the second half thanks to Bennett Rossi winning. The ball returned to the point where Leon van der Linde hit a long shot from Michael Secher. Austria then had their best scoring chances of the tournament after Nils Elten beat Jonas Döbnig after a breakaway just after Dubnig had exited the penalty area.
Döbnig was selected by coach Kirk Furey to take the penalty, but he hit a long shot from the penalty area. It was a costly defeat as Germany went 3-0 soon after. Nicholas Heigl’s brilliant pass to the back found his brother Thomas in the slot, and Thomas made no mistake. This is the end of Secher, who was replaced by Thomas Farmmeyer.
Halfway through the period, Austria received another push and, for the first time in the tournament, became connected. Scherzer kept the ball at line, moved to point tackle and won Koab with a shot between the legs at 9:24, sparking an off-the-bench celebration for the team’s first goal after being hit at 209:24.
“We got a lot of shots at the power level and scoring that goal was massive,” admitted Scherzer. “They blocked a lot of shots, but I had a good screen and was able to break through the puck. You still looked for a shot and saw an assist.”
However, the Germans increased their lead late in the period, when Roman Kechter took aim and fired from the hatch at 16:38. However, at the beginning of the third, the Austrians struck again. German defender Philipp Senn lost the ball into his own net, and Döbning was there to make a quick, backhand move past Kwab’s surprise goal at 6:00.
But after Germany settled down, encouraged by a 4-2 victory, the Austrian stepped forward and grabbed a number of fantastic chances in the dying minutes. They win the power play, pulling out Sicher and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Quapp, who is elated with the win.
