National League: Lugano doesn’t give ZSC a chance – Bern beat Ambri

Lugano doesn’t give the Lions a chance: Bern fights Ambri thanks to Karhunen shutout

At the start of the National League season, there was a first surprise: the championship co-favorite ZSC had no chance in Lugano and lost 4-0. Bern, Lausanne and Freiburg celebrated the victories of the favorites.

Lugano – ZSC 4: 0

The ZSC Lions, leaders both in the last season that was canceled and in the forecasts for this season, began the championship with a 4-0 loss in Lugano.

The way Lugano dominated the Resega was surprising. After just 27 minutes, the Ticino team led 3-0 after goals from Dario Bürgler, Daniel Carr and Luca Fazzini. The Zurich guests tried, but never found their way back to the game. Newly signed Canadian Daniel Carr even conceded with two goals. Goalkeeper Niklas Schlegel (34 saves) came to a shutout against his former club.

The ZSC Lions had won all nine test matches prior to the start of the season. But only in the opening phase (with 5: 1 shots on target for the ZSC) did the Lions live up to their role as favorites. The sticking point turned out to be the first two-minute penalty (against Marcus Krüger), which Lugano punished with the first goal at 97 seconds.

Goalkeeper Lukas Flüeler (32 saves) did not look good at 0: 1; then a misstep by a defender made Lugano’s third goal possible. However, Lugano forced Zurich errors with imaginative, aggressive power hockey on offense. And Lugano had already convinced during the preparation phase (victories in the 6: 1 test match).

Already on Friday in the home game against Freiburg the ZSC Lions had the opportunity to rehabilitate. The city of Zurich is not used to opening losses – the ZSC Lions have won seven of the last eight season openers.

Lugano – ZSC Leones 4: 0 (2: 0, 1: 0, 1: 0)
3426 spectators. – SR Stricker / Stolc (SVK), Wolf / Betschart.
Tore: 9. Bürgler (Fazzini, Arcobello / Powerplaytor) 1: 0. 18. Carr (Bertaggia, Kurashev) 2: 0. 28. Fazzini (Bödker) 3: 0. 51. Carr (Kurashev, Bertaggia) 4: 0.
Punish: 2 times 2 minutes against Lugano, 1 time 2 minutes against ZSC Lions.
PostFinance Top Scorer: Arcobello; Geering.
Lugano: Schlegel; Pay attention, Riva; Loeffel, Wellinger; Chiesa, Nodari; Traber, Wolf; Boedker, Arcobello, Fazzini; Carr, Kurashev, Bertaggia; Burgler, Herburger, Suri; Walker, Morini, Lammer.
ZSC Lions: Flueler; Noreau, Martí; Phil Baltisberger, Geering; Trutmann, Berni; Morant; Chris Baltisberger, Roe, Andrighetto; Hollenstein, Diem, Sigrist; Pettersson, Kruger, Wick; Prassl, Schäppi, Pedretti; Simic.
Observations: Lugano without Lajunen and Sannitz (both injured), ZSC Lions without Blindenbacher, Bodenmann and Capaul (all injured). (dab / sda)

Bern 2-0 Ambri

Thanks to an early goal and a late goal in the second leg, Bern wins the start over Ambri-Piotta.

Just 14 seconds after the first break, temporary NHL returnees Gaëtan Haas (Edmonton Oilers) put the Bernese in the lead with a practiced attack. And 0.6 seconds before the second break, newcomer Dustin Jeffrey clinched the 2-0 victory.

After missing the playoffs at the end of winter, Bern started the season more or less “normally”: the Bernese won their first game of the season for the fifth time in a row and even their first home game for the ninth time in a row.

Berne goalkeeper Tomi Karhunen played a prominent role. The Finn secured the points for his team with 38 saves and “stole” Ticino. In ice hockey, points are stolen if the goalkeeper of the winning team achieves more than ten parades more than the other. Damiano Ciaccio did 25 shows with Ambri at the championship premiere.

Bern – Ambri-Piotta 2: 0 (0: 0, 2: 0, 0: 0)
6750 spectators. – SR Hebeisen / Piechaczek (GER), Altmann / Progin.
Tore: 21. (20:14) Haas 1-0. 40. (39:59) Jeffrey (Untersander / Unterzahlor!) 2: 0.
Punish: 3 times 2 plus 5 minutes (Praplan) plus playing time (Praplan) against Bern, 2 times 2 minutes against Ambri-Piotta.
PostFinance Top Scorer: Moser; White clothes.
Bern: Karhunen; Untersander, Beat Gerber; Thiry, Blum; Andersson, Henauer; Colin Gerber; Pestoni, Jeffrey, Bader; Ruefenacht, Haas, Scherwey; Praplan, Brithen, Moser; Sciaroni, Jan Neuenschwander, Heim; Berger.
Ambri-Piotta: Ciaccio; Outside, Isacco Dotti; Ngoy, Fischer; Fohrler, Pezzullo; Zaccheo Dotti; Kneubuehler, Flynn, Horansky; D’Agostini, Novotny, Zwerger; Grassi, Müller, Rohrbach; Trisconi, Kostner, Bianchi; Dal Pian.
Observations: Ambri-Piotta without Hächler (blocked), Incir, Nättinen and Pinana (all injured). Ambri-Piotta from 56:50 without a goalkeeper.

Lausanne – Langnau 5: 2

The Lausanne Hockey Club started the season victorious against the SCL Tigers 5-2, but only convinced in phases. Time and again, the Vaudois left the opponent clearly weaker in the game due to negligence. Until the 52nd minute it was just 3: 2 for Lausanne, before Fabian Heldner and Cory Conacher (with an empty shot on goal) increased the finish to 5: 2.

Mainly Canadians Josh Jooris (1 goal, 2 assists, +2) and Cory Conacher (1 goal, 1 assist, +3 record) convinced. In the power play, Lausanne scored 1-0 and 3-1 out of five chances, while the Langnauers in the majority did not score a goal (3 chances).

For the SCL Tigers, Gianluca Zaetta defended goal for the first time in the National League. He had previously played 46 games in the Swiss League for the EVZ Academy. Despite 39 saves, Zaetta had to leave the ice empty-handed in the end. (sda)

Lausanne – SCL Tigers 5: 2 (1: 0, 2: 1, 2: 1)
4518 spectators. – SR Salonen (FIN) / Müller, Gnemmi / Burgy.
Tore: 6. Jooris (Conacher, Barberio / Powerplaytor) 1: 0. 22. Kenins (Jooris, Heldner) 2: 0. 35. Julian Schmutz (Sturny, Lardi) 2: 1. 39. Bertschy (Jooris, Kenins / Powerplaytor) 3 : 1. 43. Maxwell (Anderson) 3: 2. 52. Heldner (Almond, Emmerton) 4: 2. 58. Conacher (Almond) 5: 2 (ins read Tor).
Punish: 4 times 2 minutes against Lausanne, 5 times 2 plus 10 minutes (Erni) against SCL Tigers.
PostFinance Top Scorer: Barberio; Berger.
Lausanne: Stephan; Heldner, Frick; Genazzi, Barberio; Grossmann, Marti; Krueger, Antonietti; Conacher, Jooris, Kenins; Bertschy, Gibbons, Maillard; Almond, Emmerton, Bozon; Leone, Hunter, Douay.
SCL Tigers: Zaetta; Blaser, Leeger; Lardi, Erni; Huguenin, Grossniklaus; Rüegsegger, Guggenheim; Berger, Maxwell, Weibel; Sturny, Flavio Schmutz, Julian Schmutz; Neukom, Diem, Dostoinov; Andersons, In-Albon, Kuonen.
Observations: SCL Tigers without Earl, Glauser, Melnalksnis, Punnenovs, Salzgeber and Schilt (all injured). SCL Tigres from 56:25 to 57:03 without goalkeepers.

Freiburg – Rapperswil 2: 1

HC Friborg-Gottéron started the new season with a 2-1 victory over the Lakers. Freiburg took a 2-0 lead through David Desharnais (15th) and Yannick Herren (31st), but shook after Roman Cervenka’s goal 78 seconds before the end until the final siren sounded.

Freiburg should have decided the game earlier. The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers only created opportunities in the opening phase and in the final. But Gottéron was only looking cautiously on the offensive. The Freiburgers focused on allowing little and being disciplined, which meant the Lakers didn’t get a single power play opportunity. Rapperswil lost the first game of the season for the fifth time in a row.

Freiburg-Gottéron – Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 2: 1 (1: 0, 1: 0, 0: 1)
5160 spectators. – SR Dipietro / Hungerbühler, Fuchs / Obwegeser.
Tore: 15. Desharnais (Furrer, Stalberg) 1-0. 31. Men (Schmid, DiDomenico) 2: 0. 59. Cervenka 2-1 (without goalkeeper).
Punish: none against Friborg-Gottéron, 3 times 2 minutes against Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
PostFinance Top Scorer: Jumpers; Vukovic.
Freiburg-Gottéron: Berra; Sutter, Furrer; Gunderson, Chavaillaz; Kamerzin, Jecker; Jobin, Abplanalp; Bykov, Desharnais, Stalberg; DiDomenico, Schmid, gentlemen; Rossi, Walser, Marchon; Sprunger, Bougro, Mottet.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers: Nyffeler; Egli, satirical; Jelovac, Profico; Vukovic, Dufner; Maier, Randegger; Clark, Cervenka, Schweri; Wick, Dünner, Lhotak; Moses, Wetter, Eggenberger; Loosli, Ness, Lehmann.
Observations: Freiburg-Gottéron without Brodin (foreign surplus), Rapperswil-Jona Lakers without Payr (injured) and Rowe (suspended). Rapperswil-Jona Lakers from 58:33 to 58:42 and from 59:07 without a goalkeeper. (dab / sda)