Austria surprises the Czech Republic, Sweden beats Great Britain in the ice hockey World Cup
TAMPERE, Finland – Austria caused a great stir at the World Ice Hockey Championships on Tuesday, beating the Czech Republic 2-1 after winning a penalty shootout.
It was Austria’s first victory over the Czechs in a major tournament. Austria’s Peter Schneider was the only player to convert his penalty into the penalty area.
It was Austria’s first victory in the tournament after two losses, which moved the team up to fifth place in Group B with three points, after the Czechs in fourth place with one point.
Czech captain Roman Cervenka had led his team in the opening period but Brian Lebler equalized with 38 seconds left.
The Czechs hope David Pastrnak will intensify their attack when he arrives in Finland after his Boston Bruins were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes. He should be available for the next match against Latvia on Thursday.
In another group B match, Anton Bengtsson had two goals and an assist and Rasmus Asplund scored two goals when Sweden ruled Great Britain 6-0 to join Finland on the top list. Great Britain is last with one point.
In Group A in Helsinki, Switzerland made three victories out of three by defeating Kazakhstan 3-2 and coming in with Canada on nine points.
In addition, Denmark beat Italy 2-1 for their second victory. Italy and Kazakhstan are still meaningless.