- Lausanne is the first team that can beat ZSC in this year’s playoffs: In game 2, the Vaudois team won 4-2 at home.
- Sven Andrighetto (4th/43rd) and Michael Raffl (10th/59th) both scored twice.
- Both teams are now in the lead, but Zurich can no longer find an answer to Damien Riat’s 3-2 lead.
Neutral ice hockey fans can rejoice: The final series between Lausanne HC and the ZSC Lions lasts at least 5 games. In Game 2, which went to Lausanne 4-2, the two teams also showed highly intense ice hockey at the top level. A game that was evenly balanced, like on Tuesday, had the better end for Lausanne this time.
Legend:
We were able to celebrate a goal 4 times
Lausanne HC player.
Freshfocus/Estelle Vagne
The protagonists meet early
In this second final game, the two teams completely refrained from any kind of probing or restraint. Both teams had great chances in the first minute of the game and in the 4th minute the net floundered for the first time. Sven Andrighetto was played by Denis Malgin, moved towards the goal after a physical illusion and slapshotted the puck from the barrel into the crossbar.
Zurich’s lead didn’t last very long in an extremely entertaining game. At the end of a direct attack, Michael Raffl (10th) was able to push past Simon Hrubec into the empty goal. Despite two outnumbered situations, the guests from Zurich were unable to take the lead again.
Metal check in the middle third
The two finalists didn’t hold back in the second third either. Yannick Weber hit the post (24th), the disc then rolled past Connor Hughes in front of the goal line. Just a few minutes later, Théo Rochette slammed the puck onto the crossbar. The second third, which was a little less intense than the first third after the two metal hits, had one more highlight: Lausanne’s opening goal in the 38th minute.
After Zurich lost the puck, the hosts had the opportunity to counterattack. Tim Bozon drove the ball forward until he reached the faceoff circle and beat Hrubec in the near corner. It was only the third goal the Czech had conceded away from home in this year’s playoffs.
ZSC too risky
The guests were not deterred by this setback. Shortly after the second break it was Andrighetto who scored again for ZSC, this time with the majority, but again from a pass from Malgins. Mark Crawford’s team only knew one direction and pushed for another goal – and wanted too much.
The Zurich team did not protect themselves sufficiently at the back, Christian Marti lost the target on the blue line and Lausanne was able to counterattack again. Robert Kovacs made his way down the left and played an exemplary cross pass to Damien Riats, who just had to push in. Two minutes before the end, Raffl made the decision in this game with his deflection after around 10 seconds in the power play.
Premieres
For the first time ever, a playoff final game took place in Lausanne on Thursday evening. The final newcomer from Vaud was able to win it straight away and ensure another first: It was the first defeat for the ZSC Lions in the 10th playoff game.
This is how it continues
The third game of this final series will take place again in Zurich on Saturday.