France defeats Austria 2-1 in overtime

France came out victorious 2-1 against Austria in their opening game of the 2023 IIHF on Saturday.

Both teams scored a power play goal in a hard-fought match. The pivotal moment came in overtime, when captain Sacha Treile drove the pluck into the top corner for Les Blues’ victory.

First win in the bag for @Hockey_FRA 🇫🇷🎉#IIHFWorlds #FRAAUT pic.twitter.com/8nDFxwqs9Z

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 13, 2023

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“It’s a perfect way to start the tournament,” Treille said after the game.

“We said in the locker room that the first game is always important and we’ve seen that from the past. I think we started the game the right way and even though they came pretty hard from the second onward, we always tried to fight hard. At the end, we got the winning goal, so it’s great.”

France take on Denmark on Sunday and Hungary on Tuesday in their quest to stay in the top division. Austria, on the other hand face Sweden tomorrow and will hope to bounce back from the defeat.