The Lars Leuenberger effect continues to be felt in Fribourg. For the first time this season, Gottéron won three straight victories in the league thanks to a 5-1 victory on the HC Lugano ice rink.
If the result is important, so is the way the team played. The Friborgs dominated their opponents offensively, while closing down the center of the ice in the defensive zone. With Reto Berra in great form in front of the cage, it was the perfect recipe for victory.
The captain set the tone
HC Lugano entered the match strong, achieving several shots on target in the first minutes of play. But this momentum quickly ran out of steam after Julien Sprunger’s two goals in the first half of the third. The captain was initially served to perfection by defender Dave Sutter to open the scoring. Barely five minutes later, he added with a clever breakaway feint against goalkeeper Niklas Schlegel.
The Ticino people never seemed to recover from these successes of Sprunger. Unconvincing for the rest of the period and during the second third, it was indiscipline that sank Luca Gianinazzi’s men once and for all in the third period. Linden Vey, in power play, Kevin Nicolet and Marcus Sörensen, also at 5 against 4, put the match out of reach of the locals with three goals in 5 minutes.
This convincing victory is all the more important for Gottéron’s rise in the rankings. Alone in 8th place, Lars Leuenberger’s men now have 48 points, only 4 less than Zug and the 6th and last place giving direct access to the play-off.
