Traveling to Zug after beating Zurich at home 24 hours before was not the easiest task for Geoff Ward’s players. Everything should have gone well for the Lions and that was not the case. And as sometimes happens these days for the LHC, the defeat can be heavy (7-2 against Berne, 5-0 against Geneva).
The Vaudois opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a power-play goal from Hofmann. But the Lausanne players were able to come back 62 seconds later on a throw from Pajuniemi, poorly negotiated by Tim Wolf. The former Ajoie goalkeeper did not appear very well on the second Lausanne goal (30th, Rochette). Fortunately for him, his teammates had scored two successes (Wingerli and Hofmann).
It was then Antoine Keller who offered two goals to the Zougois in 24 seconds in the 38th and at the same time jeopardized his team’s chances of a comeback. Geoff Ward preferred to take out his goalkeeper and let Kevin Pasche, excellent the day before, finish a match that Lausanne could not win.
This Zähringen derby did not take long to provide emotions to the 9,178 spectators. It only took Berne 12 seconds to open the scoring. A goal from Merelä that the referees went to review after Berra moved his cage.
But the Friborgs reacted immediately, helped by a group with friendly rebounds. Jakob Lilja was very happy to find an empty cage, since Adam Reideborn had gone behind his goal. The Dragons also benefited from the help of Thierry Schild in the 7th for Wallmark’s 2-1. Schild made up for it in the 14th by building Simon Moser’s 2-2.
Trailing 3-2 in the 31st minute, Pat Emond’s players raised their heads thanks to their power play. Nine seconds from the end of the middle third, it was Christoph Bertschy who was able to recover a shot that had hit the post. Then in the 44th minute, it was Raphael Diaz who gave his colors the advantage at 5 against 3. But Merelä leveled the score in the 57th minute. During overtime, Friborg did not touch the puck. The Dragons, on the other hand, recovered well on penalties by scoring two, while being able to count on an imperial Berra.
Despite two goals from Rajala, Biel brought nothing back from their trip to Lugano. The Zealanders lost 6-3. Trailing 3-2, the Ticinese were able to find the resources to turn the tide, with the help of a surprisingly decisive Jesper Peltonen. The son of legend Ville Peltonen was involved in the 3-3 and the 4-3. The 5-3 fell at the end of the match in the empty cage.
For Greg Ireland’s first match at the head of HCA, Ajoie did not present his best face to Kloten. The Jurassiens were beaten 5-2 in the Zurich suburbs. And Lauri Marjamäki’s players did not steal their victory, they who shot 41 times on goal, compared to only 19 shots from the club’s side at the wyvern. Arriving as a new foreigner, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare achieved his first by signing a goal and an assist.
The summit match between Zurich and Davos finally turned in favor of the Davosians. The latter scored the decisive 3-2 by Fora in overtime after 64’59, one second from the siren and penalties.
In the last match of the evening, Rapperswil won at Langnau 5-4 ap.