The almost 9,000 spectators in Lausanne’s Vaudoise Aréna were put to the test of patience for a long time in a hard-fought 5th game in this playoff quarter-final series. 10 minutes before the end it was still 0-0.
Only then did the first and ultimately decisive goal come, which was initially not recognized: top scorer Valentin Nussbaumer had lifted the puck over Connor Hughes, but Fabian Heldner apparently cleared it before the line. The referees only awarded the goal after video consultation.
Legend:
Scored for the 3rd time in the 5th game
Valentin Nussbaumer.
Freshfocus/Pascal Muller
Lausanne’s dominance is not bearing fruit
Lausanne, which had missed a great chance to take the lead in the person of Christian Djoos immediately before Nussbaumer’s coup, tried everything again in the final phase at 6 against 5. Lawrence Pilut, who had just returned from the cooler after an unnecessary penalty, only hit the edge of the goal 31 seconds before the siren.
Davos was also an extremely happy winner in other respects. The shooting statistics in the end were 39:11 for the home team. In the starting third, the Graubünden team only managed one shot at Hughes’ goal, while Lausanne had 14.
Corvi and Fora with warning shots
The Vaudois have to accept the accusation of not having shown the utmost consistency before Sandro Aeschlimann’s goal. Geoff Ward’s team had already lost momentum in the middle third, Davos got into the game better and had a sniff of making it 1-0 with shots from Enzo Corvi and Michael Fora.
As was the case after Game 1, which Davos only managed to win in the second extra time, the home advantage is once again on HCD’s side. This time the Lausanne team could pay dearly for the narrow defeat: Davos has the first of two opportunities to ensure a place in the semi-finals in front of their home crowd on Wednesday.