Fribourg-Gottéron wins its second game at the Spengler Cup in Davos against Kärpät Oulu 6:4 and keeps its chance of advancing directly to the semi-finals.
27.12.2024, 17:46
27.12.2024, 17:57
SDA
Fribourg had narrowly lost to Dynamo Pardubice in a penalty shoot-out the previous day, but this time they kept the upper hand against Spengler Cup newcomers Kärpät Oulu in the decisive phase. When the Finns were able to play five minutes in overtime in the final period after a cross-check by Marcus Sörensen, they did not equalize, but instead Jacob de la Rose increased the lead to 5:3 with a Buebetrickli. The Dragons did not relinquish the advantage.
The game developed a completely different character to the two opening games on St. Stephen's Day. Fribourg and Oulu gave each other a lot more space, were less aggressive, and the goalies - Gottéron's Loic Galley stood in for the rested Reto Berra - did not make a safe impression either. The result was a much more open game in which the French-speaking Swiss took the lead for the first time at this Spengler Cup after just over 33 minutes.
Benoît Jecker scored with a slap shot from the blue line. Before that, the "Hermeline" (Kärpät) from the north of Finland had taken the lead three times, and Gottéron had countered three times. In addition to Jecker, two other defensemen - Ajoie's T.J. Brennan (for 1:1) and Dave Sutter (for 2:2) - got on the scoresheet, while 21-year-old Kevin Nicolet (for 3:3), one of the team's own youngsters, also scored.
Fribourg must now hope for a defeat of Pardubice on Saturday afternoon against Oulu in order to advance directly to the semi-finals on Monday, otherwise they will play a quarter-final on Sunday.
Telegram and ranking
Kärpät Oulu - Fribourg-Gottéron 4:6 (3:2, 0:2, 1:2)
Davos. - 6267 spectators (sold out). - SR Kaukokari/Borga (FIN/SUI). - Goals: 3. Mäenalanen (Rueschhoff) 1:0. 7. (6:28) Brennan (Sörensen, Marchon) 1:1. 7. (6:35) Gardiner (Masin, Melnick) 2:1. 11. Sutter (Sörensen, De la Rose) 2:2. 16. Juusola (Gardiner, Melnick) 3:2. 27. Nicolet (Audette, Kristof) 3:3. 34. Jecker 3:4. 46. De la Rose (underpaid goal!) 3:5. 52. Virta (Turunen) 4:5. 59. Lilja 4:6 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes against Oulu, 1 time 2 plus 5 (Sörensen) minutes plus playing time (Sörensen) against Fribourg.
Kärpät Oulu: Westerholm; Björk, Paaso; Pokka, Koivisto; Ohtamaa, Masin; Juusola; Virta, Kovarcik, Turunen; Gardiner, Melnick, Tardif; Rueschhoff, Korpimäki, Mäenalanen; Anttila, Nikupeteri, Heikkala.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Galley; Sutter, Brennan; Diaz, Borgman; Gunderson, Jecker; Rathgeb, Streule; Sörensen, De la Rose, Marchon; Nicolet, Kristof, Audette; Bertschy, Vey, Lilja; Sprunger, Walser, Mottet.
Remarks: Timeout Oulu (58.), from 57:22 to 58:25 without goalkeeper.
Spengler Cup. Preliminary round. 2nd matchday. Group Torriani: Kärpät Oulu (FIN) - Fribourg-Gottéron 4:6 (3:2, 0:2, 1:2). - Ranking: 1. Fribourg-Gottéron 2 games/4 points. 2. Dynamo Pardubice (CZE) 2/2. 3. Kärpät Oulu 1/0.
