Jan Cadieux’s men approached this match with a lot of confidence, with a 5-goal lead acquired during the card inflicted on Lausanne in the first leg. The worst thing would have been to concede a goal in the first two minutes: that could have given the Lions wings and put the Genevans under pressure. Easy ? Well, not so much, since the Vaudois quickly opened the scoring thanks to Riat. The former Geneva player recovered the puck in front of Robert Mayer after a complete error by Vincent Praplan one meter from his cage (2nd). This lake derby started off badly!
However, if there is one competition where the GSHC shines despite the turbulence surrounding the club, it is the Champions Hockey League. In front of their audience, the Garnets were able to quickly turn the situation around. Oula Palve (him again) equalized thanks to the work of Sakari Manninen (7th). Then Vincent Praplan gave his team the advantage thanks to a deflection in front of the Lausanne goal (8th). The Lions, however, reacted, coming back to stay in the match. Once again, it was Riat who was able to deceive Robert Mayer (15th).
It was from that moment that the Praplan festival really began! In the 24th minute, he took advantage of an error from Pasche to make it 3-2. Then, the Valaisan des Vernets validated his hat-trick with a slapshot from the blue line (42nd), before adding a fourth goal from a penalty (48th). Vincent Praplan sees quadruple, a first in his professional career! With a score of 5-2, the mass was said. But the show continued to the delight of the spectators. Unlike the giant screens installed at the Vaudoise Arena to follow the match while the Night of Lions was in full swing, the public’s attention remained focused at Les Vernets.
Fuchs and Hügli added two goals for the LHC, while Teemu Hartikainen and Josh Jooris, both in powerplay, also contributed to the party! Final score: 7-4 for the GSHC (12-4 in total over the two matches). Jan Cadieux’s men did the job and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions Hockey League for the second year in a row. In the next round, they will face the Bremerhaven Penguins (DEL) on December 3 and 17. Locations and times will be communicated soon by the CHL.
Until then, Genève-Servette will have to play six National League matches in nine days starting this Friday, including four at home (Berne Saturday, Ambrì-Piotta Monday, Fribourg-Gottéron Wednesday and Ajoie next Saturday). Currently 13th in the standings, the Garnet have a golden opportunity to get back into the race for the playoffs. It will be essential that the Vernets are full and loud to support them.
Genève-Servette – Lausanne 7-4 (2-2;1-0;4-2)
Les Vernets 6254 spectators
Referees: MM. Holm, Nikolic, Altmann, Urfer
Buts: 1’49 Riat (Suomela) 0-1, 6’33 Palve (Manninen) 1-1, 7’38 Praplan (Jacquemet, Chanton) 2-1, 14’28 Riat (Fuchs) 2-2, 24’00 Praplan 3-2, 41’42 Praplan (Jacquemet, Palve) 4-2, 47’06 Praplan (penalty shootout) 5-2, 51’35 Fuchs (Riat, Heldner) 5-3, 51’57 Hartikainen (Granlund, Berni at 5c4) 6-3, 53’32 Jooris (Praplan, Le Coultre) at 5c4) 7-3, 54’37 Hügli (Jäger, March) 7-4
Penalties: 4×2′ against Genève-Servette, 5×2′ against Lausanne
Geneva-Servette: Mayer, Jacquemet, Chanton, Berni, Schneller, Völlmin, Le Coultre, Vouardoux, Bertaggia, Jooris, Miranda, Granlund, Manninen, Hartikainen, Plave, Spacek, Praplan, Maillard, Cavalleri, Pouliot
Lausanne: Pasche (cellar 40′), Marti, Glauser, Frick, Heldner, Bayreuther, Sklenicka, Fiedler, Haas, Fuchs, Suomela, Riat, Bozon, Jäger, Hügli, Rochette, Kuokkanen, Pajuniemi, Genazzi, Bougro, Holdener
