Ice hockey: small hold-up from Bienne to Bern

There are encounters that are won through mental strength, through aggressiveness. Thursday’s derby between Berne and Bienne, very physical, is the perfect illustration of this. It was a terrible shot from Rajala in overtime, at 4 against 3, which made the difference. The Zealanders had not concluded any of their first five possibilities in numerical superiority. But this victory took a long time to emerge for the EHCB, long dominated (46 shots on target against 28 in favor of the Bears at the end of the match). This is the third success in a row for Biel.

Certainly, each of the two teams had their highlights in this very high quality derby. Lacking success in the first half, the Zealanders relaunched in the middle third by scoring twice (Bachofner then Cunti) in four minutes. Andersson reacted to Bern’s opening score in the second minute, in a completely unbridled start to the match.

But as the match progressed, it was Berne who gradually took the upper hand, with Bienne content to play counterattacks. At five against five, Bernese domination became more and more important. But SCB missed big chances, particularly during a third period in which it had numerous opportunities to kill the game. Säteri saved the furniture during numerous heated situations in the Zealand defense, clearly contributing to the Bear’s first defeat in its den.

If the men from the capital had such control over the match, it was also due to the injury to Viktor Lööv. In the 23rd minute, the defender was charged by Baumgartner against the boards. A regular but dangerous check in the sense that the Swede absolutely did not see his opponent coming before violently hitting the boards. According to the first rumors from Bern, Lööv, who came out with the help of medical staff, may have suffered a concussion. A big blow for the EHCB, which will host Davos on Saturday.

Bern-Bienne 3-4 ap (2-1 1-2 0-0)