With only 14 points in 43 games, Arttu Ruotsalainen fell well below expectations in qualifying in his debut season in Lugano. In extra time of Game 3 in the playoff quarter-finals against Freiburg – when the series was 0-2 – the Finn showed his full potential.
Overtime was less than 3 minutes old when Ruotsalainen plucked up the courage and started a solo run. First he dribbled elegantly between the two Freiburg players, Maximilian Streule and Lucas Wallmark, before the Finn dried off Reto Berra with a well-placed wrist shot into the far corner.
Legend:
Brings Lugano back into the series
Arttu Ruotsalainen.
Keystone/Anthony Anex
Schlegel makes a strong comeback
In the regular 60 minutes, Freiburg came closer to their 3rd victory and thus probably the preliminary decision in this series than Lugano to their 1st success. Niklas Schlegel, who made his comeback after a two-month injury break and came into action in place of Mikko Koskinen, saved time after time for the “Bianconeri”. Schlegel fended off 38 of the 39 attempts on his goal and played a large part in Lugano being back in business.
The Luganesi took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute at the BCF Arena thanks to a power play goal from Luca Fazzini. At this point, Freiburg’s Julien Sprunger was already in the shower after a cross-check against Mirco Müller’s head. In the second third it was Gottéron who had the majority. Chris DiDomenico had an easy time equalizing the game after a nice cross pass from Marcus Sörensen.
Emotions run high
In the final minutes of the middle third, the game also ended prematurely for Luganesi. John Quenneville hit Wallmark from behind and was rightly sent off by the referees with a match penalty. In general, the two teams didn’t just exchange pleasantries. The game was extremely rough on both sides, with a total of 78 penalty minutes awarded.
This series was really launched with Luganesi’s away win. So, at least on paper, everything is back in order. The Ticino team will have the chance to equalize the series at 2-2 on Friday.