Ambri-Piotta now occupies 2nd place after a hard-fought 2-1 win in the derby against Lugano. The ZSC Lions almost embarrass themselves against bottom-of-the-table Ajoie.
Young Tommaso De Luca scored Ambri-Piotta's much-celebrated winner in the sold-out Gottardo Arena with eight minutes remaining. It was the Leventines' fourth win in a row, but their first at home after 60 minutes.
In a duel between two previously surprising teams, Kloten returned to winning ways after three consecutive defeats with a 3-0 win against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
EV Zug, on the other hand, fell into a hole. The team from central Switzerland lost 3-1 to Biel and went off the ice as losers for the fourth time in the last five games.
The champions remain the clear leaders. The ZSC Lions nonchalantly surrendered a 4-0 lead in the last thirteen minutes against bottom-of-the-table Ajoie. Thanks to Juho Lammikko's goal in overtime, they still managed to secure their ninth win in their tenth game of the season.
The ZSC Lions suffered their only defeat of the season so far in Freiburg, but it was a rare success for Fribourg-Gottéron. Last year's playoff semi-finalists lost 0-6 in Lausanne and are in second-last place with just two wins from ten games.
Results and standings:
Results: Ambri-Piotta - Lugano 2:1 (1:1, 0:0, 1:0). Kloten - Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 3:0 (1:0, 0:0, 2:0). Lausanne - Fribourg-Gottéron 6:0 (1:0, 3:0, 2:0). ZSC Lions - Ajoie 5:4 (2:0, 1:0, 1:4, 1:0) n.V. Zug - Biel 1:3 (1:0, 0:1, 0:2).
Ranking: 1. ZSC Lions 10/22. 2. Ambri-Piotta 10/19. 3. Lausanne 10/18. 4. Kloten 11/17. 5. Lugano 9/16. 6. Bern 10/16. 7. Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 10/16. 8. SCL Tigers 9/14. 9. Davos 10/14. 10. Biel 10/13. 11. Genève-Servette 7/12. 12. Zug 9/12. 13. Fribourg-Gottéron 10/8. 14. Ajoie 9/4.