HC Davos wins the top-of-the-table battle against Fribourg-Gottéron 5:2 and consolidates its position on the leader's throne. In the last National League games before the Olympic break, the focus was on the scramble for play-in spots. Only Schlittschuhclub Bern improved its starting position.
01.02.2026, 16:37
01.02.2026, 18:41
SDA
Davos now have a 14-point lead over Fribourg, who can still pick up a maximum of 15 points in their remaining five games.
After winning the Spengler Cup, Davos needed two weeks to regain their footing in the championship. On Sunday, they managed their sixth three-point win in a row, while the visitors from western Switzerland left the ice as losers for the first time since January 3 and after winning nine games.
Freiburg's resistance was broken at the latest after Calle Andersson made it 1:4 at the start of the final period. Brendan Lemieux, Simon Ryfors and Rasmus Asplund had previously scored for the Grisons. Fribourg reduced the deficit to 1:2 in the meantime through Kyle Rau, but Jacob de la Rose's 2:4 did not turn things around either. In the end, Adam Tambellini shot the puck into the empty net.
Strong mercenaries
Bern won against Ajoie thanks to a good performance by the mercenaries for once. Goaltender Adam Reideborn recorded a shutout (22 saves), Waltteri Merelä gave the home team an early lead, and Hardy Häman Aktell secured Bern's victory in the second period with two goals to make it 3-0. In addition to the two goals, Häman Aktell also contributed two assists.
With 10 wins from the last 14 rounds, Bern has worked its way up from 13th place (on December 20) to 9th. Although the SCB will no longer be able to reach the top 6, they are still just three points behind the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (7th) and Zug (8th). And ahead of the SCL Tigers (10th) and EHC Biel (11th), the SCB is once again number 1 in the canton.
Setback for Biel
EHC Biel suffered a setback in Kloten. The Seelanders led 2:0 until the 47th minute, but lost 2:3 after overtime. The gap between the Seelanders and the last place in the play-in is now not three, but five points.
Things seemed to be looking up for the Seelanders under new head coach Christian Dubé. Biel scored in four of the five games under Dubé and won against the Lakers (5:4) and Ajoie (6:3). However, the defeat in Kloten was the third under Dubé.
Deniss Smirnovs (47th) and Dario Meyer on the power play with his 15th goal of the season (54th) saved Kloten in overtime. Max Lindroth scored the 3:2 winning goal after 63:13 minutes. The win lifted Kloten to 12th place at the expense of Ambri-Piotta.
After the three-week Olympic break, there are still six rounds to go until the end of the qualifiers.
Telegrams and standings:
Bern - Ajoie 5:0 (1:0, 2:0, 2:0)
17'031 spectators (sold out). - SR Lemelin/Stricker, Duc/Gurtner. - Goals: 4. Merelä (Marchon, Kreis) 1:0. 26. Häman Aktell (Ejdsell) 2:0. 40. (39:28) Häman Aktell (Sgarbossa, Reideborn/powerplay goal) 3:0. 56. Loeffel (Häman Aktell, Scherwey) 4:0. 58. Sgarbossa (Ejdsell, Häman Aktell/powerplay goal) 5:0. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Bern, 4 times 2 minutes against Ajoie. - PostFinance top scorers: Merelä; Honka.
Bern: Reideborn; Loeffel, Häman Aktell; Untersander, Kreis; Rhyn, Kindschi; Merelä, Aaltonen, Marchon; Ejdsell, Sgarbossa, Lehmann; Scherwey, Baumgartner, Vermin; Müller, Graf, Alge; Ritzmann.
Ajoie: Keller; Fey, Honka; Christe, Friman; Berthoud, Fischer; Thiry; Wick, Bellemare, Cormier; Sopa, Devos, Nättinen; Hazen, Romanenghi, Bozon; Pedretti, Cavalleri, Mottet; Schmutz.
Remarks: Bern without Bemström, Füllemann, Simon Moser, Levin Moser (all injured), Yakovenko and Lindholm (both surplus foreigners), Ajoie without Garessus, Gauthier, Patenaude, Pilet, Robin and Turkulainen (all injured).
Kloten - Biel 3:2 (0:0, 0:1, 2:1, 1:0) n.V.
6189 spectators. - SR Borga/Heikkinen, Humair/Mäkinen. - Goals: 37. Hofer (Zryd, Andersson) 0:1. 41. (40:40) Andersson 0:2. 47. Smirnovs (Schäppi, Schreiber) 1:2. 54. Meyer (power play goal) 2:2. 64. Lindroth (Ramel) 3:2. - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes against Kloten, 5 times 2 minutes against Biel. - PostFinance top scorers: Meyer; Andersson.
Kloten: Fadani; Delémont, Lindroth; Wolf, Klok; Profico, Steiner; Kellenberger; Meyer, Morley, Weibel; Simic, Leino, Ramel; Derungs, Backman, Puhakka; Smirnovs, Schäppi, Rafael Meier; Schreiber.
Biel: Säteri; Hultström, Zryd; Grossmann, Dionicio; Blessing, Stampfli; Bichsel; Rajala, Andersson, Hofer; Sylvegard, Haas, Kneubuehler; Sever, Cajka, Neuenschwander; Bärtschi, Christen, Sallinen; Sablatnig.
Remarks: Kloten without Diem, Gignac, Hausheer and Simon Meier (all injured), Biel without Burren, Müller (both injured) and Huuhtanen (supernumerary foreigner).
Davos - Fribourg-Gottéron 5:2 (2:1, 1:0, 2:1)
6547 spectators. - SR Wiegand/Hungerbühler, Bürgy/Nater. - Goals: 8. Lemieux (Dahlbeck, Nussbaumer) 1:0. 15. Ryfors (Tambellini) 2:0. 19. Rau (De la Rose/powerplay goal) 2:1. 39. Asplund (Ryfors/powerplay goal) 3:1. 42. Andersson (Nussbaumer) 4:1. 45. De la Rose (Rau, Schmid/powerplay goal) 4:2. 59. Tambellini (Ryfors) 5:2 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Stransky; Schmid.
Davos: Aeschlimann; Frick, Dahlbeck; Andersson, Jung; Barandun, Gross; Guebey; Stransky, Nussbaumer, Lemieux; Frehner, Ryfors, Tambellini; Kessler, Asplund, Gredig; Knak, Egli, Parrée; Waidacher.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Rathgeb, Kapla; Glauser, Streule; Jecker, Nemeth; Johnson; Rattie, Schmid, Rau; Bertschy, Borgström, Biasca; Sprunger, De la Rose, Marchon; Gerber, Walser, Reber; Nicolet.
Remarks: Davos without Corvi (injured) and Zadina (suspended), Fribourg-Gottéron without Dorthe, Seiler, Sörensen and Wallmark (all injured). Fribourg-Gottéron without a goalkeeper from 57:16 to 58:07.
