Rare away win: Biel wins the small Bern derby in Langnau
Image: Keystone
Sold out as always: The fans in the Fribourg arena are delighted with the masterstroke against leaders Lausanne
Image: Keystone
An Ambri legend slays the Bernese bear: Inti Pestoni scored the winning goal to make it 3-2
Image: Keystone
With patience to victory: The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers with captain Nico Dünner managed the decision against Ajoie in the final third
Image: Keystone
Defending in vain: Kloten goalie Sandro Zurkirchen can't prevent the narrow defeat in Zug
Image: Keystone
Rare away win: Biel wins the small Bern derby in Langnau
Image: Keystone
Sold out as always: The fans in the Fribourg arena are delighted with the masterstroke against leaders Lausanne
Image: Keystone
An Ambri legend slays the Bernese bear: Inti Pestoni scored the winning goal to make it 3-2
Image: Keystone
With patience to victory: The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers with captain Nico Dünner managed the decision against Ajoie in the final third
Image: Keystone
Defending in vain: Kloten goalie Sandro Zurkirchen can't prevent the narrow defeat in Zug
Image: Keystone
Biel ends its away curse in the cantonal derby and the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers remain unbeaten at home under Johan Lundskog. These are the facts from Wednesday's National League games.
15.01.2025, 22:59
15.01.2025, 23:09
SDA
Comparisons with cantonal rivals are not EHC Biel's favorite discipline this season. However, with a 5:1 win at the SCL Tigers, the Seelanders sent a strong signal after only one win in five derbies. The fact that they managed to do so on home ice was nothing short of a minor miracle. Since the 1-0 win in Geneva on November 2, Biel have lost seven straight away games. Johnny Kneubühler scored Biel's winning goal to make it 2:1 in the 28th minute with a "Buebetrickli".
Meanwhile, the SCL Tigers remain in a slump. It was the fifth match in a row without a point for the Emmental side, who started the new year with two wins. If things continue like this, the Tigers could soon drop below the bottom of the play-off table.
Gottéron stops Lausanne's high-flying run
Lars Leuenberger has definitely breathed new life into Fribourg-Gottéron. The Spengler Cup winners also scored in their seventh consecutive championship game under their new coach in a 4-1 home win against top-of-the-table Lausanne. Fribourg's exploit against the Vaudois leaders, who had previously won eight games in a row, got off to a lightning start. The Swede Jakob Lilja put the hosts ahead after just 47 seconds, and Maximilian Streule increased the lead to 2:0 less than six minutes later. Lausanne came close to equalizing in the middle third, but Ahti Oksanen only hit the far post. Marcus Sörensen (32') and Yannick Rathgeb (54') ultimately ensured a well-deserved home win, which leaves Gottéron just six points off a direct play-off place.
Pestoni's strike finishes off the SCB
First-placed Bern, who were beaten 2:4 at home by Ambri-Piotta, were unable to benefit from Lausanne's slip-up. SCB took the lead twice through Victor Ejdsell (21st) and Austin Czarnik (39th), but the Leventines responded immediately with the equalizer. In the end, it was Inti Pestoni who scored the winner for the visitors with an individual effort. Ambri's crowd favorite stole the puck from Bern defender Romain Loeffel and saved his team from a 19th (!) overtime of the season with his fifth goal of the season (3:2) just seven minutes before the end.
Lundskog's home streak continues
Like Fribourg-Gottéron, the new broom is also sweeping well for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. With the promotion of Johan Lundskog from assistant to head coach in mid-December, the St. Gallen team has found its way back onto the road to success. In the home game against bottom-placed Ajoie, St. Gallen trailed 1-0 early on. In the end, however, two foreigners did the trick. Canadian Tanner Fritz and Swede Malte Stromwall scored the goals in the final third to make it 2:1 and 3:1. It was the Lakers' fifth home win under Lundskog and their seventh win from the last nine games.
Zug on the rise
EV Zug's form is also continuing to improve. The team from central Switzerland celebrated its fourth win in a row with a 3-2 victory at home against Kloten. However, after taking an early 2-0 lead after eleven minutes, EVZ still had to tremble. The winning goal by 18-year-old defenseman Ludvig Johnson only came in the final minute. The youngster caught visiting goalie Sandro Zurkirchen on the stick side with his finish. Kloten coach Lauri Marjamäki did not appreciate this. The Finn replaced Zurkirchen with Ludovic Waeber for the final 59 seconds. The measure fizzled out and Kloten are still waiting for their first away win in 2025.
Telegrams
SCL Tigers - Biel 1:5 (1:1, 0:2, 0:2)
5451 spectators. - SR Piechaczek (GER)/Dipietro, Gurtner/Huguet. - Goals: 5. Sablatnig (Cunti, Kneubuehler/power play goal) 0:1. 14. Allenspach (Zanetti, Mäenalanen) 1:1. 28. Kneubuehler (Cunti, Rajala/power play goal) 1:2. 40. (39:10) Hofer (Yakovenko, Sallinen) 1:3. 58. (57:29) Sallinen (Sablatnig) 1:4 (into the empty net). 59th (58:59) Rajala (Burren, Grossmann) 1:5 - Penalties: 5 times 2 minutes against SCL Tigers, 6 times 2 minutes against Biel. - PostFinance top scorers: Pesonen; Rajala.
SCL Tigers: Charlin; Zanetti, Riikola; Saarijärvi, Paschoud; Guggenheim, Meier; Erni; Rohrbach, Flavio Schmutz, Pesonen; Allenspach, Malone, Mäenalanen; Petrini, Berger, Saarela; Fahrni, Felcman, Julian Schmutz; Lapinskis.
Biel: Säteri; Burren, Grossmann; Stampfli, Yakovenko; Christe, Zryd; Delémont; Hofer, Andersson, Sallinen; Sablatnig, Tanner, Rajala; Greco, Müller, Kneubuehler; Cunti, Luca Christen, Bachofner; Cattin.
Remarks: SCL Tigers without Baltisberger (injured) and Kristof (extra player), Biel without Blessing, Brunner, Bärtschi, Haas, Heponiemi and Lööv (all injured). SCL Tigers without a goalkeeper from 57:10 to 57:29.
Fribourg-Gottéron - Lausanne 4:1 (2:0, 1:1, 1:0)
9262 spectators. - SR Hürlimann/Ruprecht, Duc/Gnemmi. - Goals: 1. (0:47) Lilja (Rathgeb) 1:0. 7. Streule (Mottet, Nicolet) 2:0. 22. Heldner (Kuokkanen, Glauser) 2:1. 32. Sörensen (Schmid, Wallmark) 3:1. 55. Rathgeb (Walser, Mottet) 4:1. - Penalties: 1 x 2 minutes against Fribourg-Gottéron, none against Lausanne. - PostFinance top scorers: Wallmark; Riat.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Rathgeb, Gunderson; Sutter, Streule; Diaz, Jecker; Seiler; Sörensen, Wallmark, Schmid; Sprunger, De la Rose, Marchon; Bertschy, Vey, Lilja; Nicolet, Walser, Mottet; Dorthe.
Lausanne: Pasche; Sklenicka, Bayreuther; Heldner, Frick; Glauser, Fiedler; Genazzi, Marti; Riat, Kuokkanen, Oksanen; Bozon, Jäger, Raffl; Pajuniemi, Fuchs, Hügli; Holdener, Prassl, Hammerer.
Remarks: Fribourg-Gottéron without Dufner (injured) and Borgman (extra foreigner), Lausanne without Rochette (sick), Pilut, Suomela and Vouardoux (all injured).
Bern - Ambri-Piotta 2:4 (0:0, 2:2, 0:2)
14'523 spectators. - SR Tscherrig/Eriksson (SWE), Obwegeser/Humair. - Goals: 21st (20:24) Ejdsell (Nemeth, Czarnik) 1:0. 24th Maillet (Virtanen, DiDomenico) 1:1. 39th (38:13) Czarnik (Vermin, Ejdsell) 2:1. 39th (38:55) Kubalik (Maillet, DiDomenico) 2:2. 53rd Pestoni 2:3. 59th Kubalik 2:4 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes against Bern, 3 times 2 minutes against Ambri-Piotta. - PostFinance top scorers: Czarnik; Kubalik.
Bern: Philip Wüthrich; Untersander, Nemeth; Kreis, Klok; Loeffel, Vermin; Kindschi; Merelä, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Bader, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Marchon, Kahun, Moser; Schild, Schläpfer, Ritzmann; Graf.
Ambri-Piotta: Senn; Heed, Zgraggen; Virtanen, Curran; Dario Wüthrich, Terraneo; Isacco Dotti; DiDomenico, Maillet, Kubalik; Pestoni, Kostner, De Luca; Grassi, Heim, Müller; Bürgler, Landry, Zwerger; Muggli.
Remarks: Bern without Lehmann, Lindholm (both injured) and Reideborn (supernumerary foreigner), Ambri-Piotta without Douay (injured) and Juvonen (supernumerary foreigner). Bern without a goalkeeper from 58:00 to 58:37 and 58:40 to 59:56.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - Ajoie 3:1 (0:1, 1:0, 2:0)
4015 spectators. - SR Lemelin (USA)/Stolc (SVK), Francey/Meusy. - Goals: 8. Pedretti (Pilet, Fischer) 0:1. 23. Wick 1:1. 41. (40:26) Fritz (Moy, Maier) 2:1. 55. Strömwall (Wetter, Maier) 3:1. - Penalties: none against Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, 1 x 2 minutes against Ajoie. - PostFinance top scorers: Moy; Nättinen.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers: Nyffeler; Maier, Holm; Baragano, Capaul; Djuse, Jelovac; Henauer; Strömwall, Rask, Wetter; Moy, Fritz, Jensen; Wick, Dünner, Lammer; Hofer, Taibel, Zangger; Alge.
Ajoie: Conz; Honka, Fey; Maurer, Brennan; Nussbaumer, Fischer; Thiry, Pilet; Frossard, Bellemare, Nättinen; Hazen, Devos, Pedretti; Robin, Garessus, Bozon; Pouilly, Romanenghi, Veckaktins.
Remarks: Rapperswil-Jona Lakers without Albrecht, Larsson, Quinn (all injured), Aberg and Nardella (both surplus foreigners), Ajoie without Ciaccio, Patenaude, Rundqvist, Schmutz, Turkulainen (all injured) and Palve (surplus foreigner). Ajoie without goalkeeper from 59:37.
Zug - Kloten 3:2 (2:0, 0:1, 1:1)
7039 spectators. - SR Kaukokari (FIN)/Staudenmann, Altmann/Bachelut. - Goals: 2. Tobias Geisser (Martschini) 1:0. 12. Kovar (Martschini, Vozenilek) 2:0. 32. Meier (Bernd Wolf, Rehak) 2:1. 49. Schreiber (Grégoire, Meyer/Powerplay goal) 2:2. 60. (59:01) Johnson 3:2. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Zug, 2 times 2 minutes against Kloten. - PostFinance top scorers: Martschini; Aaltonen.
Zug: Genoni; Bengtsson, Johnson; Schlumpf, Carlsson; Muggli, Tobias Geisser; Martschini, Kovar, Vozenilek; Wingerli, Olofsson, Hofmann; Herzog, Senteler, Künzle; Eggenberger, Leuenberger, Wey.
Kloten: Zurkirchen (60. Waeber); Niku, Profico; Grégoire, Bernd Wolf; Sidler, Steve Kellenberger; Sataric; Ojamäki, Aaltonen, Audette; Meyer, Ramel, Schreiber; Derungs, Schäppi, Weibel; Rehak, Smirnovs, Meier; Keller.
Remarks: Zug without Biasca, Simion (both sick), Riva and Stadler (both injured), Kloten without Aebi, Diem, Morley, Simic and Steiner (all injured). Kloten without goalkeeper from 59:29.
