A tired LHC bows sharply in Zug

Friday evening, the Lausanne Hockey-Club entered the National League leader on the ice of the Bossard Arena. But in the Lausanne locker room, everyone was well aware that once you reached the top, the hardest part was to keep your place.

Despite the multiplication of matches, the third in four days, and repeated injuries, coach Geoff Ward did not rotate his squad. The most notable change to report is the arrival in front of the net of Antoine Keller, in place of Kevin Pasche, who was shut out Thursday evening against the ZSC Lions.

The first period ended with a score of 1-1. The Zougois first opened the score at five against four, while they were coming out of a long period in double superiority (Hofmann, 15th). Sixty-two seconds later, the visitors equalized following a sudden shot from Lauri Pajuniemi which surprised Tim Wolf. The former HC Ajoie goalkeeper is not really doing his best this week, having been released after only 4’31 on Wednesday evening against Berne.

After a three against one, the Swede Andreas Wingerli gave Zug a goal back in the 26th minute. This success came during a strong moment for Dan Tangnes’ men, who managed to put Lausanne under pressure. Perhaps the two previous matches were starting to weigh on the Vaudois organizations? And the 3-1 (Hofmann again) confirmed this state of affairs in the 30th.

But that was without counting on… Tim Wolf who did his own thing again, finding himself on the mitt side, 23 seconds later on a delivery from Théo Rochette. His Vaud counterpart, Antoine Keller, is also not exempt from all criticism on the 4-2 and the 5-2, which fell in 24 seconds (38th). Until then, the LHC had folded, now it broke.

At the second break, Geoff Ward also chose to replace his goalkeeper. It was Kevin Pasche who played the third period. And these last 20 minutes have changed nothing. They just allowed Fredrik Olofsson to score 6-2. The rest…filling.

The LHC therefore lost this match in Zug, but not quite at the top of the standings. He is now co-leader of National with ZSC Lions and Davos, with 40 points. The Grison club beat the Zurich residents, but only in overtime (2-3).

Now time for a few days of break for Lausanne residents who really need it. They will play the next match in the European Cup, Wednesday, to try to turn around a very compromised situation against Genève-Servette, winner 5-0 in the first leg.

Zug – Lausanne 6-2 (1-1 4-1 1-0)