- The ZSC Lions lost a 2-0 lead against Zug and had to cede the National League leadership throne to Freiburg.
- Geneva proves its home strength against Kloten. There is no sign of this at Lugano against the Lakers.
- Runner-up Biel equalized against Ambri with 16 seconds left, but still lost for the 4th time in a row.
ZSC Lions – EV Zug 2:3 nV
The ZSC Lions had to leave the ice as losers for the first time after 6 wins in a row. For 40 minutes there was little to suggest a Zurich defeat against EVZ, even more so because the hosts led 2-0 thanks to Derek Grant (9th) and Rudolfs Balcers (37th). The next goal by Fabrice Herzog (46th) visibly breathed new life into the Zug team. In addition, there was a catastrophic bad pass from Denis Malgin, which Marc Michaelis (49th) used to equalize. In extra time, Andreas Wingerli completed the EVZ turnaround in a game with few interruptions and only one 2-minute penalty.
Lausanne – Freiburg 1:2 aet
Unlike the ZSC Lions, Freiburg secured the additional point in their guest appearance in Vaud. Thanks to this, the “Dragons” moved to the top of the table. The match winner for the guests from Saanestadt was Chris DiDomenico, who scored both goals. The Canadian first equalized in the first power play of the game (37th) before scoring the winning goal after 17 seconds in extra time. Lausanne’s opening goal came after a mistake in Freiburg’s substitution.
Davos – Bern 2:3 aet
After difficult years, SCB definitely seems to have found its stride this season. Away in Landwassertal, the “Mutzen” gave up a 2-0 lead. Valentin Nussbaumer (40th) with his 5th goal of the season and Dennis Rasmussen (42nd) after a wonderful pass from Marc Wieser brought the previously pale Graubünden team back into the game. In overtime, Dominik Kahun only needed 39 seconds to secure victory for SCB with his second goal of the evening.
Biel – Ambri 4:5 nP
Ambri celebrated a hard-fought and, considering the results, a somewhat lucky victory in Seeland. The Bielers were able to equalize 4:4 through Gaëtan Haas 16 seconds before the end, but later in the penalty shootout the Leventiners secured the extra point. Before that, Biel had only given up a 1-0 lead and then equalized both 1-2 and 2-3. The Leventiners impressed with their efficiency: from their point of view, the shot ratio in the end was 20:52. Biel cannot find its way out of its misery and has 6 defeats from its last 7 games.
Geneva – Kloten 5:1
With the 4th win in the 4th home game – the champions have always left the ice as losers away from home – Geneva also demonstrated its home strength against Kloten. And 4 is a good keyword: With 4 goals in 4-minute intervals, the Geneva team turned the game around in the middle third after Jonathan Ang (14th) had put the guests in the lead in the opening period after some nice interaction with Dominik Diem. What was worth seeing was Marc-Antoine Pouliot’s power-play goal (32′), who scored through his own legs to make it 3-1.
Lugano – Lakers 1:6
4 games, 0 points, 5:17 goals: That was the Lakers’ away record before the trip to Lugano. In Ticino, however, the knot seems to have broken. Rapperswil-Jona gave the “Bianconeri” 6 goals. Already after the starting third, the Lakers led 3-0 thanks to goals from Tyler Moy (11th), David Aebischer and Roman Cervenka (both 19th). Lugano was unable to react to the false start. On the contrary: after a double strike within 19 seconds, the hosts saw it as 0:6 in the 50th minute. Luca Fazzini spoiled “Rappi” goalie Melvin Nyffeler’s second shutout in a row (56th).
Ajoie – SCL Tigers 0:3
In the duel between the bottom of the table, Langnau retained the upper hand. Top scorer Aleksi Saarela made the difference in the 3-0 win. The Finn scored twice (8th/48th), each with a nice shot. Less than 60 seconds before Saarela’s second goal, young defender Bastian Guggenheim had scored his first goal of the season. Bottom line Ajoie failed several times due to the strong Tigers goalie Luca Boltshauser and suffered his 5th defeat in a row.