Defenders Dave Sutter and TJ Brennan both found the net.
Fribourg-Gottéron gave itself the right to dream of direct qualification for the semi-finals of the Spengler Cup. The day after the point snatched against Dynamo Pardubice, Lars Leuenberger’s team managed to dominate the Finns of Kärpät Oulu (4-6) on Friday, at the end of an open afternoon in Davos. With now four units on their counter, the Dragons can hope to finish at the top of the Torriani group.
Like the day before against the Czechs, Friborg skated behind its opponent and the score for a long time. The fault lies in several individual errors: Saku Mäenalanen (3rd, 1-0) first took advantage of a guilty misunderstanding between Linden Vey and Christoph Bertschy to open the scoring after only 130 seconds of play.
Galley in trouble
Then Reid Gardiner (7th, 2-1), best scorer in the Finnish championship, and Viljami Juusola (16th, 3-2) in turn sanctioned Loic Galley who started in place of Reto Berra – left to rest – and far from being imperial on these two goals conceded.
But Gottéron showed heart and desire on the ice at the Eisstadion, like the players not called up against Pardubice. TJ Brennan (7th, 1-1), the reinforcement loaned by HC Ajoie, and Dave Sutter (11th, 2-2), the solid defender leaving for Genève-Servette, each time brought their team to a tie during of the first third.
The Dragons lifted the cursor during a middle period to their advantage. Enough to fall behind, then take control of the game for the first time in the afternoon against the current 9th in Liiga. Kevin Nicolet (27th, 3-3), posted at the far post, was able to transform a good service from Daniel Audette on a break initiated by Michael Kristof. And Benoît Jecker (34th, 3-4), thanks to a shot deflected by an opponent, found the net in his turn.
Sörense expelled
Lars Leuenberger’s men could have lost everything at the start of the last line, when Marcus Sörensen was prematurely sent to the locker room for an ugly gesture on an opposing player (42nd). But Patrik Virta only found the amount of Loic Galley in stride (44th), and Jacob De la Rose (46th, 3-5), more precise, was able to score the goal of the break with one man less on the ice.
The Dragons, who suffered at the end of the match after the score reduction by Patrik Virta (52nd, 4-5), held on. They must now hope for a defeat for Dynamo Pardubice against Kärpät Oulu on Saturday afternoon (3:10 p.m.) to hope to finish at the top of their group and thus avoid a perilous quarter-final.
Kärpät Oulu – Friborg 4-6 (3-2 0-2 1-2)
Ice rink. Arbitres: MM. Kaukokari, Borga; Fuchs, Altmann.
Buts: 3rd Mäenalanen (Rueschhoff) 1-0, 7th Brennan (Sörensen) 1-1, 7th Gardiner 2-1, 11th Sutter (Sörensen) 2-2, 16th Juusola (Gardiner) 3-2, 27th Nicolet (Audette, Kristof) 3 -3, 34e Jecker 3-4, 46e De la Rose (4c5!) 3-5, 52e Virta (Turunen) 4-5, 59e Lilja (cage vide) 4-6.
Kärpät Oulu: Westerholm; Pokka, Koivisto; Björk, Paaso; Ohtamaa, Masin; Hermonen, Juusola; Virta, Kovarcik, Turunen; Gardiner, Melnick, Tardif; Rueschhoff, Korpimäki, Mäenalanen; Anttila, Nikupeteri, Heikkala. Entraîneur: Ville Mäntymaa.
Freiburg: galley; Diaz, Borgman; Gunderson, Jecker; Rathgeb, Streule; Sutter, Brennan; Sörensen, De la Rose, Marchon; Nicolet, Kristof, Audette; Bertschy, Vey, Lilja; Sprunger, Walser, Mottet. Coach: Lars Leuenberger.
Penalties: 2 x 2′ against Kärpät Oulu; 1 x 2′ + 1 x 5′ (Sörensen) + match penalty (Sörensen) against Fribourg.
