The third penalty against Lausanne in the game brought Gottéron into the game. Théo Rochette had to watch from the penalty box as Chris DiDomenico passed it back to Ryan Gunderson, who made it 1-1 with a powerful shot (22′). While Freiburg’s outnumbered situations had previously been harmless, the Saanestadt team took full advantage of the power play at the beginning of the middle third. Goalie Kevin Pasche, who was surprisingly preferred to Connor Hughes, had to reach behind himself for the first time.
The not undeserved Lausanne lead, which Lawrence Pilut had secured in the 8th minute, was gone. But the third-place finisher didn’t let the equalizer unsettle him. He kept pushing and made it supposedly 2-1 – but Reto Berra had something against it.
Saved behind the back
The Gottéron goalkeeper caught the disc behind his back with his catching hand after he had actually already been beaten. Because the referees couldn’t determine from the video images whether the puck had crossed the line, they decided there was no goal (28′).
Legend:
Retained the upper hand in Game 1
The Freiburgers.
KEYSTONE/Peter Klaunzer
In general, Berra always reacted strongly. And if he wasn’t there, he could also rely on the necessary bit of luck – the Lausanne team failed to score twice in the first 40 minutes.
Coaches Challenge unsuccessful
Instead of the Lausanne team, the Freiburg team were successful again. Four minutes after the second break, Mauro Dufner pulled away from the blue line. His shot was deflected by Andrei Bykov, making it dangerous – and successful.
The 2-1 score was then checked by the referees because Geoff Ward had taken a coaches challenge. Again the pictures were looked at for a long time, and again the decision was against the Lausanne team. The guests survived the penalty without conceding a goal, but they were no longer able to react to the initial deficit, although they pressed vehemently for the equalizer in the final minutes. However, Berra again had something against it.
The semi-final series continues on Wednesday evening in Lausanne.