The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers take the lead in the National League standings for the second time this season
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Bern's goalie Adam Reideborn is back in excellent early form, just like a year ago. Against Gottéron, he conceded another goal after 153:25 minutes of unbeaten play.
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Dominik Kubalik led HC Ambri-Piotta to a 5-4 overtime win over Servette with two goals in the final period
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A sigh of relief in Ajoie and for coach Christian Wohlwend. Ajoie celebrates its first win with a 5-2 victory over Kloten in the 8th round
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EHC Biel also took advantage of the round of home victories to beat Lugano 5-3 in the Tissot Arena
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Even with only four instead of the possible six imports, Lausanne HC proved to be too strong for EV Zug.
Image: Keystone
The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers take the lead in the National League standings for the second time this season
Image: Keystone
Bern's goalie Adam Reideborn is back in excellent early form, just like a year ago. Against Gottéron, he conceded another goal after 153:25 minutes of unbeaten play.
Image: Keystone
Dominik Kubalik led HC Ambri-Piotta to a 5-4 overtime win over Servette with two goals in the final period
Image: Keystone
A sigh of relief in Ajoie and for coach Christian Wohlwend. Ajoie celebrates its first win with a 5-2 victory over Kloten in the 8th round
Image: Keystone
EHC Biel also took advantage of the round of home victories to beat Lugano 5-3 in the Tissot Arena
Image: Keystone
Even with only four instead of the possible six imports, Lausanne HC proved to be too strong for EV Zug.
Image: Keystone
The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers are back at the top of the table with their first win after three defeats. These are the facts from Friday night's six games.
Lakers win top game
Only Rapperswil-Jona versus Langnau pitted two teams from the top half of the table against each other. The Lakers defeated the Tigers 4-1 and took the lead in the standings for the second time this fall. Pontus Aberg decided the game with the 3:1 in the 43rd minute, immediately after Langnau, the team with the best power play in the league, had missed the 2:2 equalizer in overtime.
Sensation in Ajoie
Ajoie lost all of their first seven games of the season and their first four home games. But it was against the in-form leaders Kloten, of all teams, that they managed to break free with a 5-2 win. With Philip-Michael Devos (goal scorer at 1-0), Jerry Turkulainen (assists at 1-0, 3-1 and 5-2), Oula Palve (assists at 3-1 and 4-1) and Julius Nättinen (goal scorer at 5-2), four foreign players scored who had ranked between 320 and 325 in the plus/minus statistics league-wide before the round (among 325 ranked players). Incidentally, Langnau (2016/17 season), Ambri-Piotta (2010/11 season) and Rapperswil-Jona (2008/09 season) had the worst starts to the season in the National League, losing all of their first nine games. But only Ajoie failed to pick up a single point from their first seven games until the effort against Kloten.
Lausanne with style
Last year's finalists Lausanne are heading back towards the top after their 6-3 home win over Zug. Zug equalized three times after trailing. After Andreas Wingerli made it 3-3, Tim Bozon, Antti Suomela and Benjamin Bougro scored within 326 seconds to bring the score from 3-3 to 6-3. Lausanne put Zug in its place despite having to make do with just four imports due to injuries to Michael Raffl, Lawrence Pilut and Janne Kuokkanen.
Bern wins Zähringer derby
SC Bern celebrates its third win in a row with a 6-3 victory against Freiburg and concedes goals for the first time after the 4-0 win against Ambri and the 5-0 win in Ajoie. Dave Sutter beat Bern's goalie Adam Reideborn after 153:25 minutes, during which the Swede had not conceded a goal. Marco Lehmann (2 goals, 2 assists) and the American Austin Czarnik (4 assists) provided the offensive highlights. Lehmann is one of the leading scorers with 7 goals this season; Czarnik leads the assists list with 11. Victor Ejdsell (2 goals, 1 assist) scored the first goals for the SCB.
Final furioso in Ambri
HC Ambri-Piotta celebrated its fifth win in the last six rounds with a 5-4 overtime victory against Servette. Dominik Kubalik decided the game after 91 seconds of overtime. Kubalik decided overtime for the third time (and for the first time in five and a half years). The finish in Ambri was furious: Ambri took a 4:3 lead 118 seconds before the end through Kubalik, but conceded the equalizer five seconds before the end through Markus Granlund with four against six field players. Servette played their sixth away game and scored for the fifth time.
Biel wins after falling behind
EHC Biel came back from 2-1 down to beat Lugano 5-3 and win again after three defeats. Fabio Hofer with his first two goals of the season and 3 points as well as defenseman Viktor Lööv (+3 balance) led Biel to victory. Lugano suffered its third defeat away from home in its fourth game.
Match telegrams:
Ajoie - Kloten 5:2 (1:0, 2:1, 2:1)
Pruntrut. - 3934 spectators. - SR Tscherrig/Staudenmann, Schlegel/Bichsel. - Goals: 20 (19:01) Devos (Scheidegger, Turkulainen) 1:0. 28 Fey (Nussbaumer/powerplay goal) 2:0. 34 Meyer (Aaltonen, Niku/powerplay goal) 2:1. 36. Nussbaumer (Turkulainen, Palve) 3:1. 41st (40:37) Sopa (Palve) 4:1. 55th Grégoire (Audette) 4:2. 59th Nättinen (Turkulainen, Thiry) 5:2 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 3 times 2 plus 5 minutes (Veckaktins) plus playing time (Veckaktins) against Ajoie, 5 times 2 minutes against Kloten. - PostFinance top scorers: Brennan; Niku.
Ajoie: Ciaccio; Minder, Fey; Scheidegger, Brennan; Nussbaumer, Fischer; Thiry; Turkulainen, Devos, Pedretti; Sopa, Palve, Nättinen; Robin, Romanenghi, Veckaktins; Garessus, Rundqvist, Bozon; Pouilly.
Kloten: Waeber; Niku, Profico; Grégoire, Wolf; Sidler, Steve Kellenberger; Steiner; Ojamäki, Aaltonen, Audette; Derungs, Morley, Ramel; Meier, Schäppi, Meyer; Weibel, Diem, Smirnovs; Schreiber.
Remarks: Ajoie without Conz, Frossard, Hazen, Maurer and Schmutz (all injured), Kloten without Simic (injured). Kloten without goalkeeper from 57:22 to 58:04.
Lausanne - Zug 6:3 (1:1, 2:1, 3:1)
8586 spectators. - SR Lemelin/Mollard, Duc/Huguet. - Goals: 9. Riat (Oksanen, Suomela) 1:0. 16. Leuenberger (Eggenberger) 1:1. 21. (20:59) Marti (Rochette, Fuchs) 2:1. 22. (21:41) Kovar (Stadler) 2:2. 27. Oksanen (Suomela) 3:2. 44. (43:20) Wingerli (Kovar) 3:3. 45th (44:58) Bozon (Sklenicka, Hügli) 4:3. 47th Suomela (Jäger, Bayreuther/powerplay goal) 5:3. 51st Bougro (Genazzi, Holdener) 6:3. - Penalties: 4 times 2 minutes against Lausanne, 3 times 2 minutes against Zug. - PostFinance top scorers: Suomela; Künzle.
Lausanne: Keller; Glauser, Bayreuther; Sklenicka, Marti; Vouardoux, Frick; Fiedler; Riat, Suomela, Oksanen; Pajuniemi, Rochette, Fuchs; Hügli, Jäger, Bozon; Holdener, Bougro, Genazzi; Mémeteau.
Zug: Wolf; Bengtsson, Geisser; Muggli, Carlsson; Schlumpf, Stadler; Riva; Vozenilek, Kovar, Wingerli; Simion, Olofsson, Herzog; Biasca, Senteler, Künzle; Antenen, Leuenberger, Eggenberger.
Remarks: Lausanne without Heldner, Kuokkanen, Pilut, Prassl and Raffl (all injured), Zug without Genoni, Hansson, Hofmann (all injured) and Martschini (sick).
Bern - Fribourg-Gottéron 6:3 (1:0, 1:1, 4:2)
16'211 spectators. - SR Hürlimann/Stricker, Altmann/Gurtner. - Goals: 3rd Moser (Füllemann) 1:0. 28th Lehmann (Czarnik, Ejdsell) 2:0. 34th Sutter (Bertschy, De la Rose) 2:1. 50th Lehmann (Moser, Czarnik) 3:1. 53rd (52:21) Ejdsell (Czarnik, Nemeth) 4:1. 53rd (52:48) Ejdsell (Lehmann, Untersander) 5:1. 58th Binias (Gerber) 5:2. 60th (59:25) Sörensen (Rathgeb) 5:3. 60th (59:43) Merelä (Czarnik, Lehmann) 6:3 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Czarnik; Sörensen.
Bern: Reideborn; Untersander, Nemeth; Loeffel, Lindholm; Vermin, Kindschi; Füllemann; Lehmann, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Bader, Merelä, Marc Marchon; Schild, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Moser, Graf, Ritzmann; Sablatnig.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra (53. Rüegger); Diaz, Borgman; Gunderson, Streule; Rathgeb, Jecker; Sutter; Sprunger, Schmid, Mottet; Bertschy, Wallmark, Sörensen; Gerber, Walser, Dorthe; DiDomenico, De la Rose, Nathan Marchon; Binias.
Remarks: Bern without Kahun and Kreis (both injured). Fribourg-Gottéron without goalkeeper from 59:25.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - SCL Tigers 4:1 (0:0, 2:1, 2:0)
4140 spectators. - SR Urban/Piechaczek, Kehrli/Obwegeser. - Goals: 24. Zangger (Strömwall) 1:0. 30. Moy (Maier) 2:0. 38. Saarela (Julian Schmutz, Flavio Schmutz) 2:1. 43. Aberg (Albrecht, Wick) 3:1. 47. Dünner (Moy, Jensen) 4:1. - Penalties: 1 x 2 minutes against Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, 2 x 2 minutes against SCL Tigers. - PostFinance top scorers: Jensen; Saarijärvi.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers: Punnenovs; Jelovac, Holm; Maier, Henauer; Baragano, Djuse; Gerber; Moy, Rask, Jensen; Strömwall, Dünner, Zangger; Hofer, Taibel, Alge; Aberg, Albrecht, Wick; Embacher.
SCL Tigers: Boltshauser; Riikola, Guggenheim; Saarijärvi, Baltisberger; Cadonau, Zanetti; Paschoud, Meier; Rohrbach, Berger, Pesonen; Julian Schmutz, Flavio Schmutz, Saarela; Fahrni, Felcman, Allenspach; Petrini, Salzgeber, Lapinskis.
Remarks: Rapperswil-Jona Lakers without Lammer, Larsson, Quinn and Wetter (all injured), SCL Tigers without Malone and Mäenalanen (both injured).
Biel - Lugano 5:3 (1:0, 3:2, 1:1)
5881 spectators. - SR Kaukokari/Ströbel, Stalder/Steenstra. - Goals: 15. Hofer (Tanner, Nicolas Müller) 1:0. 22. Aebischer (Mirco Müller) 1:1. 25. Arcobello (Sekac/at 5-on-3) 1:2. 30. Haas (Hofer/powerplay goal) 2:2. 33. Hofer (Jakowenko) 3:2. 40. (39:30) Bärtschi (Heponiemi, Rajala) 4:2. 44. Fazzini (Carr, Arcobello/at 5-on-3) 4:3. 51. Tanner 5:3. - Penalties: 5 times 2 minutes against Biel, 3 times 2 minutes against Lugano. - PostFinance top scorers: Rajala; Fazzini.
Biel: Säteri; Jakowenko, Burren; Stampfli, Lööv; Grossmann, Christe; Kneubuehler, Haas, Andersson; Heponiemi, Bärtschi, Rajala; Hofer, Tanner, Nicolas Müller; Schläpfer, Christen, Bachofner; Derungs.
Lugano: van Pottelberghe; Hausheer, Dahlström; Aebischer, Mirco Müller; Jesper Peltonen, Alatalo; Guerra; Joly, Canonica, Carr; Fazzini, Arcobello, Patry; Cormier, Marco Müller, Verboon; Zanetti, Zohorna, Sekac; Aleksi Peltonen.
Remarks: Biel without Brunner, Cunti, Reinhard, Sallinen and Zryd (all injured), Lugano without Morini, Schlegel and Thürkauf (all injured). Lugano without goalkeeper from 57:40.
Ambri-Piotta - Genève-Servette 5:4 (0:1, 3:1, 1:2, 1:0) n.V.
6210 spectators. - SR Borga/Hungerbühler, Meusy/Bürgy. - Goals: 18. Schneller (Hartikainen) 0:1. 25. Pestoni (Virtanen) 1:1. 28. Heim (De Luca, Heed) 2:1. 32. Berni (Richard) 2:2. 39. Landry (Virtanen, Zwerger) 3:2. 43rd Jooris (Maillard) 3:3. 59th (58:02) Kubalik (Virtanen, Zwerger) 4:3. 60th (59:55) Granlund (Hartikainen, Richard/powerplay goal) 4:4 (without goalkeeper). 62nd (61:31) Kubalik (Zwerger, Virtanen) 5:4. - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes against Ambri-Piotta, 3 times 2 minutes against Genève-Servette. - PostFinance top scorers: Virtanen; Hartikainen.
Ambri-Piotta: Senn; Heed, Curran; Virtanen, Zgraggen; Wüthrich, Zaccheo Dotti; Terraneo; Pestoni, Heim, De Luca; Bürgler, Maillet, Lilja; Zwerger, Landry, Kubalik; Grassi, Müller, Douay; Muggli.
Genève-Servette: Mayer; Jacquemet, Lennström; Schneller, Berni; Le Coultre, Chanton; Vouardoux; Miranda, Richard, Hischier; Hartikainen, Manninen, Granlund; Praplan, Spacek, Bertaggia; Loosli, Jooris, Maillard; Guignard.
Remarks: Ambri-Piotta without Isacco Dotti, Kostner, Pezzullo (all injured), Ang and Juvonen (both overtime), Genève-Servette without Cavalleri, Descloux, Karrer, Pouliot, Rod, Vatanen and Völlmin (all injured). Genève-Servette without a goalkeeper from 58:33 to 58:52 and 59:07 to 59:56.
