Just two days after erasing a 6-1 third-period deficit to force overtime against Canada, Austria came back again. This time, they were down only 2-0 and had 50 minutes to come back, but they managed to take all three points this time. And they needed all 60 minutes to get them. Mario Huber scored early in the second period, Thimo Nickl tied it with 10:09 remaining, and then Benjamin Baumgartner scored almost as late as you can possibly score in regulation time. Replay was needed to confirm that it beat the horn, and it did – barely.

“I thought the buzzer was before it went in, but it wasn’t,” said Baumgartner. “Zero-point-two, that’s close. It can’t get any closer!”

Teammate Peter Schneider was a bit more confident in the result of the review.

“If the time on the scoreboard is the same as the official one, then I knew 100 percent that it was a goal. I was looking at the clock and I just knew it was a goal,” said Schneider.

The Austrians have now finished a three-game stretch against Switzerland, Canada and Finland where they took four points and were only outscored 15-14.

“After the first game against Denmark, when we played horribly, we said to ourselves that it can’t go on like this,” said Schneider. “We have to play more simple, skate more, defend, get pucks out of our own zone. We improved everything against Switzerland, and even more against Canada. And now we’ve played a good game against an excellent opponent.”

Schneider said about the comeback against Canada: “It gave us a bit of confidence to play against these teams. Keep it simple, don’t take big risks, and we saw the results.”

Finland outshot Austria 32-20 in the game, but after a dominant first period by Finland, it was relatively even the rest of the way.

“We didn't underestimate anyone,” said Finnish captain Markus Granlund. “We knew it was going to be a really tough game. They've been playing really well this tournament, so it’s good for them. They really did a good job tonight.”

Granlund continued, “They got their first goal, we didn’t really get our game going anymore, and obviously, that’s hockey. They did a really good job and got rewarded at the end.”

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkiIHaTPKSY[/embed]

With four points in the bank and beatable opponents Norway and Great Britain still ahead, Austria is, remarkably, very much in contention for a quarterfinal berth. A win tomorrow against Czechia in their next game would go a long way to helping that happen, but it won’t be easy.

“We can enjoy this now, but then when we wake up tomorrow it’s a new day, a new game,” said Austrian center Marco Rossi. “We know the Czechs are going to be ready, and with their fan base, it's going to be a fun night for us. We just have to keep going. keep playing, and not think too much about it.”