Fribourg-Gottéron loses 2:3 on penalties to Czech leaders Dynamo Pardubice at the start of the Spengler Cup in Davos.
26.12.2024, 18:13
26.12.2024, 18:19
SDA
Fribourg-Gottéron had to wait exactly 50 minutes before they could celebrate for the first time in their third Spengler Cup participation - and twice. With his 24th shot on goal, Yannick Rathgeb - perfectly served by Jacob de la Rose - beat the very strong Czech goalie Roman Will. The latter injured himself in the defensive action and his replacement had to let himself be duped again by Ryan Gunderson just 54 seconds later.
Cheered on by a good 6,200 fans in the Davos ice rink, Gottéron saved themselves in extremis in overtime and ultimately into the penalty shoot-out. However, only the Czech Lukas Radil scored there.
Fribourg had already naively traded themselves a big mortgage in the first thirteen minutes. First, a pass from defender David Musil was enough to undermine the entire defense and give Radil the lead (10th). Daniel Rakos increased the lead to 2:0 immediately after the expiry of a Freiburg penalty.
In the end, Freiburg's equalizer was deserved. The team of coach Lars Leuenberger, who was only appointed on Sunday, had more of the play, but lacked efficiency and determination for a long time against the physically robust and straightforward Czechs. They were only able to break through the bulwark late on, but the Czechs held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out.
They now have a day off, while Fribourg have the opportunity to make amends against the Finns from Kärpät Oulu on Friday afternoon. They must win to keep their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
