SCB stays alive thanks to an overtime goal

If playoff ice hockey is played in Bern this year, overtime is the order of the day. As in the first two meetings between SC Bern and Fribourg-Gottéron in the Bern Arena, 60 minutes of play were not enough to decide a winner at the third attempt.

While Fribourg's Lucas Wallmark and Bern's Lukas Klok had previously been promoted to overtime heroes, Waltteri Merelä earned the honor late on Saturday night. Bern's top scorer from Finland deflected a shot from Hardy Aktell with 8.8 seconds left in the first overtime period to keep alive SCB's hopes of a turnaround in this best-of-seven series.

SCB sins in front of goal again

It was a game that seemed to be a carbon copy of Thursday's encounter, at least for the first 40 minutes. The Bernese dominated proceedings, but Fribourg got the goals.

Eight seconds before the first buzzer, Linden Vey punished the SCB defense, which was unable to clear the puck out of the zone even after several attempts. And just over a minute and a half before the second intermission, Marcus Sörensen got away from the Bern team after Fribourg top scorer Lucas Wallmark's actual clearing shot and beat Philip Wüthrich, who had been given the trust of SCB coach Jussi Tapola for the second time in this quarter-final series after the opening game in Game 5.

As in the last game in the Freiburg Arena, the Bern team missed some excellent chances. In the first period alone, SCB had three chances to score while shorthanded in the person of Benjamin Baumgartner, top scorer Waltteri Merelä and Marco Lehmann, but only Baumgartner was able to score with a shorthander.

Merelä tucks in and deals

Although Miro Aaltonen made the majority of the 17031 fans in the sold-out Postfinance Arena cheer for a second time at the start of the third period with his third playoff goal after an energetic follow-up, the superior home team was not able to do more in regulation time thanks to another strong performance by Reto Berra in the Gottéron goal - also because Lukas Klok was unable to put the disc in the net in the 53rd minute when he was completely free.

Thanks to Merelä, who had to be stitched up in overtime after a check from Julien Sprunger, these sins were not to be avenged for Bern. On Monday, however, Jussi Tapola's team needs an away win in Fribourg to extend its season once again.

Telegram:

Bern - Fribourg-Gottéron 3:2 (1:1, 0:1, 1:0, 1:0) n.V.

17'031 spectators. - SR Lemelin (USA)/Kaukokari (FIN), Altmann/Gnemmi. - Goals: 11. Baumgartner (Lehmann) 1:0. 20. (19:52) Vey (Lilja) 1:1. 39. Sörensen (Wallmark) 1:2. 41. (40:50) Aaltonen (Ejdsell) 2:2. 80. Merelä (Häman Aktell, Aaltonen/powerplay goal) 3:2. - Penalties: 5 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Merelä; Wallmark.

Bern: Wüthrich; Untersander, Nemeth; Loeffel, Klok; Häman Aktell, Kreis; Füllemann; Lehmann, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Merelä, Aaltonen, Ejdsell; Bader, Vermin, Moser; Schild, Ritzmann, Marc Marchon; Schläpfer.

Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Diaz, Jecker; Sutter, Streule; Gunderson, Seiler; Delémont; Sörensen, Wallmark, Schmid; Bertschy, Vey, Lilja; Sprunger, Walser, Nathan Marchon; Nicolet, Ljunggren, Gerber; Mottet.

Remarks: Bern without Lindholm and Ryser (both injured), Fribourg-Gottéron without De la Rose, Dufner, Etter (all injured) and Rathgeb (sick).

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