Leading by three goals after a quarter of an hour and well on their way to confirming their success brought back two days earlier from Davos (0-3), HC Ajoie finally had to settle for a point on Sunday afternoon, beaten in extension by Ambri (3-4).
With the arrival of their direct competitor, the Ajoulots were offered the opportunity to reduce the gap at the bottom of the ranking. With nine points to spare on Ambri and ten on Lugano, all hope might not have been lost. Still, HCA would have had to not let slip this cushion of three goals that it built up at the start of the match.
In Porrentruy, the Ticino residents were picked cold. 37 seconds had passed when Philip-Michaël Devos, served by his friend Hazen, made the crowd stand up for the first time. Ambri’s ordeal was far from over in this opening third. Topscorer Julius Nättinen doubled the bet in an exercise he loves so much, with an instant recovery, slightly shifted in the power play (8th).
Then Janne Juvonen had a hole in the 3-0. The Finnish goalkeeper, who gave way to Gilles Senn following this goal, let a delivery from Jonathan Hazen slip between his pads. Devos, in ambush behind the last visiting wall, only had to push the puck to the back of the cage (16th) for the double.
The guest from Levent then managed to calm the enthusiasm of the Jurassiens by reducing the gap before the first break by Tim Muggli (19th). We thought that the HCA had finished the meeting in a quarter of an hour, it was not as simple as that. Because Ambri responded, in a reduced version, in an intermediate period poor in success but rich in opportunities on both sides. By scoring the 3-2 at the end of the third by Wiliam Hedlund (38th), the team coached by Luca Cereda – who deliberately chose to deprive themselves of the services of Inti Pestoni for this trip – gave themselves the right to do so. believe before starting the final straight line.
And as the Ajoulots were not able to drive home the point, the Léventins ended up equalizing at the very end of the game, while Senn had just left his place of work for a sixth outfield player. Philippe Maillet took advantage of the considerable space granted to him to send a missile into the top corner of Benjamin Conz, once again the author of a solid performance.
During extra time, Dominik Kubalik concluded the proceedings. With this achievement, Ambri’s topscorer allows his colors to move to 12th in the hierarchy while taking 13 points ahead of the red lantern. Ajoie will play his next match on Tuesday with the reception of Langnau.
Ajoie – Ambri 3-4 ap (3-1 0-1 0-1)
Raiffeisen Arena. 5,178 spectators (box offices closed).
Referees: MM. Mollard, Fonselius, Stalder et Humair.
Buts: 1re (0’37) Devos (Hazen) 1-0, 8e Nättinen (Bellemare/5 c 4) 2-0, 16e Devos (Hazen) 3-0, 18e Muggli (Isacco Dotti) 3-1, 38e Hedlund ( Muggli) 3-2, 59e Maillet (DiDomenico/6 c 5) 3-3 62e Kubalik.
Add: Jones; Honka, Fey; Nussbaumer, Fischer; Minder, Maurer; Thiry, Pilet; Hazen, Devos, Pedretti; Palve, Bellemare, Nattinen; Robin, Garessus, Bozon; Sopa, Romanenghi, Veckaktins. Coach: Ireland.
Amber: Juvonen (16e Senn); Heed, Pezzullo; Wüthrich, Virtanen; Zgraggen, Terraneo; Isacco Dotti; Grassi, Heim, Müller; DiDomenico, Maillet, Kubalik; Bürgler, Kostner, De Luca; Muggli, Landry, Hedlund; Dwarves. Entrainer: Cereda.
Penalties: 5 x 2′ against each team.
Notes: Ajoie without Frossard, Patenaude, Rundqvist, Scheidegger, Schmutz, Turkulainen (injured), Brennan (supernumerary foreigner), Bernasconi ni Pouilly (supernumeraries). Ambri sans Douay (injured), Curran (supernumerary foreigner), Zaccheo Dotti ni Pestoni (supernumeraries). Time-out requested by Ambri (8th). Shot on the post by Honka (21st), DiDomenico (25th) and Muggli (30th). Ambri takes out his goalkeeper for the benefit of a sixth field player (57’55 to 58’11).
