Lausanne and the ZSC Lions brought the Champions Hockey League group stage to a successful close. The Swiss, who have already qualified for the knockout phase, won away at Tappara Tampere and Klagenfurt.
16.10.2024, 23:12
17.10.2024, 08:54
SDA
For Lausanne, it was nothing more than a test match under competitive conditions that they had to play in the south of Finland. However, Geoff Ward's team mastered the last task of the qualifiers with aplomb. Janne Kuokkanen scored on the power play at the start of the final period after being set up perfectly by Jason Fuchs with a long pass.
Antti Suomela, another Finn in the LHC ranks, then secured the win in the final minute with a goal into the empty net for Tampere, the 16th team to secure a place in the round of 16, which will be played on November 12-13 and 19-20, despite the defeat.
Meanwhile, the ZSC Lions finished the qualifying phase as the second-best team behind Färjestad. The Swiss champions had no trouble in their 5-1 win in Klagenfurt. Vinzenz Rohrer put the Zurich team in front in the fifth minute. Before half-time, Marc Crawford's team had extended their lead to 4:0 thanks to two goals in overtime. Derek Grant shone with two assists and a goal. Jesper Fröden assisted on three goals.
While the Lions will now face Straubing in the round of 16, Lausanne and Genève-Servette will play a Romand derby to decide the quarter-final spot. Fribourg-Gottéron will face the Swedes from Växjo.
