Ice hockey: end of series for Lausanne in Graubünden

Lausanne HC’s good run came to an end on Friday evening in Graubünden. The LHC, which remained on six victories in seven matches in the National League, fell in Davos (5-2). The Vaud team, without Kevin Pasche (announced ill), paid dearly for its lack of freshness due to its trip to the North, as part of the Champions League, in the middle of the week.

Grisons and Vaudois met again for the first time since the explosive quarter-final series of the last play-offs. Almost seven months after the seventh act won by Geoff Ward’s men, the tension was still palpable – at times – between the two teams on the ice of the Eisstadion. The suspense a little less.

Resting for a week, the “Rekordmeister” logically returned to the game stronger than the reigning Swiss vice-champion, still competing on the European scene near Tampere forty-eight hours earlier.

Cleared in Finland, Antoine Keller had to work several times from the first minutes of the game. The Franco-Swiss goalkeeper, saved by his amount on a deflection from top scorer Adam Tambellini (8th), ended up giving in thirteen seconds from the first siren, on a superb Davosian triangulation concluded by Chris Egli (20th, 1-0) . The end of Lausanne’s impermeability, after 199 minutes and 47 seconds of invincibility.

A success which had the gift of momentarily waking up the Lions, who returned from the locker room with better intentions. Lukas Frick, well offset by Tim Bozon, first found the amount of his future teammate Sandro Aeschlimann (25th). In the process, the same Tim Bozon (26th, 1-1), forgotten in the slot by the Grisons defense, was more precise to equalize.

While Makai Holdener (27th) and, above all, Gavin Bayreuther (35th) could have allowed the Vaudois to take control of the meeting if they had been more precise, it was Davos who took the lead at the end of middle period. Filip Zadina (39th, 2-1) took advantage of an unfortunate rebound from Lukas Frick to score his eighth goal of the year. Then, 75 seconds later, Yannick Frehner (40th, 3-1) gave his colors two steps ahead.

Adam Tambellini (40th, 4-1) was responsible for closing the affair after only 55 seconds in the final period, with an unstoppable wrist shot for Antoine Keller. The latter then gave way to Thibault Fatton, who thus celebrated his official debut under the Lausanne colors.

The Lions will have the opportunity to relaunch themselves on Saturday evening (kick-off at 7:45 p.m.), at the Vaudoise arena, during the Ambri reception.

Davos – Lausanne 5-2 (1-0 2-1 2-1)