The LHC has indeed moved into play-off mode. Wednesday at Vernets, the Lions collected their second success in a row against Genève-Servette (2-5), taking a 2-1 advantage in this play-off quarter-final series. Solidity, esprit de corps and efficiency – the elements which allowed them to reach the last two finals – allowed Geoff Ward’s men to regain the ice advantage. They are now the big favorites for this Lake Geneva derby.
The Lions perfectly exploited the Geneva approximations. Jimmy Vesey joins the bench of infamy after an unnecessary foul? 9 seconds later, Ken Jäger opened the scoring on a puck released by Stéphane Charlin (5th; 0-1). The Geneva goalkeeper is not at his best on a throw from Erik Brännström? The visitors score their second goal (18th, 1-2).
In the meantime, Vincent Praplan had restored parity in numerical superiority (10th, 1-1). But the Eagles most often fell foul of a united and very well established Vaudois rearguard. Sharper, the Lions took two steps ahead thanks to a recovery from Austin Czarnik, strangely alone in front of the Geneva cage (38th, 1-3). The Lions simply had more bite.
Stormy end to the match
With their backs to the wall, the Genevans continued to put pressure but the Finnish trio Granlund-Manninen-Puljujärvi was perfectly muzzled. And Inaki Baragno, with a shot from the blue, placed the puck between the legs of a Charlin not as good as in Act I (55th, 1-4). Mass was said and the goals from Vili Saarijärvi (57th, 2-4) and Drake Caggiula (58th, 2-5), both in power play, were not going to change anything at the end of the match marked by numerous fights.
A stormy outcome which announces a tense reunion for Act IV, Friday at the Vaudoise arena. Ville Peltonen will not have much time to think about a solution to find the flaw in the Lausanne wall. If the Eagles continue to dry up offensively, they will find themselves on vacation sooner than expected.
Zurich confirms
In the other match of the evening, the ZSC Lions took a big step towards the last four. The two-time reigning champions won 4-0 against Lugano and now lead 3-0 in the series. Marco Bayer’s men, who led 3-0 after 21 minutes of play, were never worried.
