France leaves Austria no chance

05 May 2013 | Alan Ilijic

A classy performance by the French earns them another important three points in the battle to survive and avoid relegation. On the other side, Austria finds themselves in a real fix, with no points and six extremely difficult games to come.

In a span of just 41 seconds, early in the first period France took an early 2:0 lead to shock Austrians and leave them without a chance for the rest of the game. The final score, 3:1, could prove to be decisive as the tournament will reach its end.

Damien Fleury and Teddy da Costa scored in the first period, after which Austrians couldn't catch up with themselves, let alone "Les Bleus". Although outshot in the first period, France remained in front and Austria could create some chances, not successfully though. At 31:10 Julien Desrosiers saw his game-winning goal when he deked Unterluggauer easily and went one-on-one with Bernhard Starkbaum.

Austria's NHL-star Thomas Vanek, who plays for Buffalo Sabres, replied with a lone goal to give Austria a little hope midway through the third period. His shot was deflected by Huet and Vanek was the first on the rebound to score in the empty angle.

French goalie, Cristobal Huet, came back ready after conceding five goals to Slovakia two days ago. Huet recorded 35 saves for his team, which earned him MVP for team France, while Starkbaum had 23.

Thomas Hundertpfund was named the best Austrian player.

The next game for team France will be tomorrow against Finland, while Austria will Latvia on Tuesday.