- ZSC Lions, who woke up late, are bracing themselves against their 4th defeat in a row in Emmental and thus preventing a change of leader in the National League.
- Freiburg takes the Zähringer derby despite being behind and wins 5-1 at SC Bern.
- Champion Geneva-Servette has now gone 120 championship minutes without a goal and is down 4-0 in Biel.
- In a duel between two long-term losers and so far point-less teams, Kloten will suffer his 8th defeat in a row at Ambri in 2024.
SCL Tigers – ZSC Lions 1:4
The people of Zurich seem to have woken up from their lethargy. In Langnau, a short interim low ended for them with three defeats de suite (2:3 nP in Bern / 2:3 nV each at home against the Lakers and the HCD). Thanks to this course correction, head coach Marc Crawford’s team also prevented themselves from being pushed off the top of the league for the first time since November 28th.
However, the Lions were chasing a deficit against the Tigers from the 8th minute until deep into the final third. Justin Sigrist’s equalizer (52′) was only given after SCL coach Thierry Paterlini was unsuccessful with his Coach’s Challenge. From then on, ZSC had the upper hand and promptly followed up thanks to Sven Andrighetto (53rd). Derek Grant (56th) and Denis Malgin (60th) ultimately ensured a clear “threesome”. So it wasn’t a 4th defeat in a row for the leader – instead it was a 5th home defeat in a row for the Emmental team.
Legend:
Turned things around
Zurich’s Jesper Fröden checks SCL keeper Stéphane Charlin.
Keystone/Marcel Bieri
Bern – Gotteron 1:5
In the Zähringer derby, Freiburg overcame a deficit caused by Romain Loeffel in the 25th minute and was running at full speed from the middle of the game at the latest. Jacob de la Rose (31st) brought the score level again, and 5 seconds before the second half-time siren sounded, Gottéron took the lead thanks to Christoph Bertschy’s shorthander. Julien Sprunger, Benoît Jecker and Mauro Jörg continuously increased. The Saanestadt team now has 5 wins in a row and hasn’t given up a point at all in the new year.
Legend:
On the rise
Julien Sprunger and his Gottéron book points 76 to 78 in the capital.
Keystone/Peter Klaunzer
Biel – Geneva-Servette 4:0
Now the Zealanders have been able to take revenge for the defeat they suffered in the playoff final series (1:4 in the 7th game at the end of April 2023). At the third meeting with Geneva since then, EHC Biel clearly had the upper hand 4-0. Robert Mayer, who was used for the first time this calendar year, had to reach behind himself between the champion’s posts early in the 4th minute and subsequently in the 14th, 28th in the power play and in the 38th minute. Offensively, the guests failed to achieve anything worth counting – as they did the evening before in the 3-0 defeat against Zug. Accordingly, Harri Säteri celebrated his 4th shutout of the season in the Bieler Tor. Meanwhile, the Calvinstadt team were able to do anything but recharge their batteries for their Herculean task of becoming the first Swiss team to make it to the finals in the Champions Hockey League on Tuesday.
Ambri – Kloten 4:1
The EHC Kloten is still not moving. The 1:4 at Ambri-Piotta was the 8th defeat in a row for the Zurich Unterländer. The Leventiners were able to rely on the scoring qualities of mercenary Alex Formenton in the starting third. The Canadian set the course for victory for the home team early on with his brace (14th/20th). There was no reaction from the people of Zurich. Michael Spacek increased the score to 3-0 in the 31st minute, and Formenton answered Steve Kellenberger’s consolation goal (44th) with his third goal (51st). For Luca Cereda’s team it was the first victory after four defeats in a row.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers – Lugano 2:5
HC Lugano started like the fire department in their guest appearance at the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. After 34 seconds, Michael Joly fed the free-standing Giovanni Morini, who made it 1-0. Less than 3 minutes later, the same Morini increased the score to 2-0. St. Gallen’s reaction came from Nicklas Jensen with a deflection (17th) and Jeremy Wick outnumbered (25th). But the Lakers couldn’t keep up the momentum. First Calvin Thürkauf scored after a wonderful counterattack (39th) to make it 3-2, in the final third Joly made everything clear with a penalty (50th) and Samuel Guerra (59th) into the empty goal.