Jan Cadieux’s men hosted Zurich this Tuesday at Les Vernets. The reigning champions seem very difficult to play this season, they who are at the top of the championship. The Eagles had three defeats in a row and were keen to get back to winning ways, especially at Les Vernets and in front of their home crowd.
Genève-Servette started the first third very strong, we immediately felt that the Grenat wanted to leave everything on the ice. They put a lot of intensity on the ice and the first real chances were against Geneva. Michael Loosli and Josh Jooris did not go far from opening the score, the Zurich residents were in their little skates. But if Zurich is first in the ranking, it is not for nothing. On an opportunity that came out of nowhere, the Lions opened the scoring through Grant (7th). The opposing TopScorer was able to recover the puck and while trying to control it, it slipped between Antti Raanta’s legs.
Genève-Servette will react quickly, thanks to its powerplay where Sakari Manninen was able to deceive Hrubec with a master shot, perfectly placed between the pads of the Zurich goalkeeper. Sami Vatanen and Teemu Hartikainen managed to put the opposing box in difficulty thanks to a succession of quick passes (13th). This goal was deserved! On the other hand, the Lions’ 2-1 really wasn’t! The visitors were able to benefit from a big stroke of luck with a puck put back into the pile and the unfortunate skate of Giancarlo Chanton who redirected the puck into the Geneva cage (15th).
In the second third, we say to ourselves that Zurich is strong, but very takeable this evening at Les Vernets. Barely time to conclude this thought, when Weber lights Antti Raanta’s cage after a beautiful combination in the Geneva defensive zone. It makes 3-1 for the Lions (26th). The reigning champions picked up the pace in this middle third, and it was the Geneva goalkeeper who had to work to keep his team in the game. Especially in the last minutes of the period when the Zurich residents had six minutes of powerplay. United and concentrated in front of their cage, the Eagles left nothing behind and gave themselves a chance to get back into the game.
Noah Rod said it during the interview during the break on the Videotron “we have to continue working like this to believe it”. Jan Cadieux’s men came out of the locker room and left everything on the ice. They were everywhere and created many opportunities. The highlights were only for the Genevans but unfortunately, the Eagles failed to capitalize on them. This evening, it is the ZSC Lions who leave in their coach with the three points. And it is Genève-Servette which must suffer a fourth consecutive defeat. There are two games left before the national team’s break next week. The Garnet must get back on the path to victory before returning in mid-November fresher, more confident and with a slightly shorter bench.
Genève-Servette – Zurich 1-3 (1-2;0-1;0-0)
Les Vernets 6401 spectators
Referees: MM. Hebeisen, Mollard, Gnemmi, Humair
Buts: 6’33 Grant (Rohrer) 0-1, 12’15 Manninen (Vatanen, Hartikainen à 5c4), 14’11 Rohrer (Zehnder) 1-2, 25’52 Weber (Olsson) 1-3
Penalties: 5×2′ against Genève-Servette, 3×2′ against Zurich
Geneva-Servette: Raanta, Vatanen, Berni, Lennström, Schneller, Chanton, Jacquemet, Vouardoux, Praplan, Manninen, Hartikainen, Loosli, Jooris, Bertaggia, Granlund, Richard, Miranda Maillard, Cavalleri, Guignard
Zurich: Hrubec, Marti, Kukan, Geering, Kinnunen, Lehtonen, Weber, Trutmann, Zehnder, Grant, Rohrer, Riedi, Malign, Andrighetto, Olsson, Lammikko, Frödén, Henry, Baechler, Baltisberger, Segafredo
