Very good operation of Lausanne HC. Wednesday at the Vaudoise arena, the Lions won 6-3 against Ajoie after a controlled collective performance, with a great Kevin Pasche in front of his net. Thanks to this success, Geoff Ward’s team moved up to 5th in the National League rankings, notably overtaking their evening opponent, who beat them 3-0 at the end of last month.
“The time for revenge has come,” the Vaudois club wrote on its social networks before the meeting. The message came across very well. After 20 minutes of play, the LHC already led 3-0 thanks to successes from Damien Riat (5th), Antti Suomela (14th) and Stefan Rüegsegger (19th), against a Jura team lacking success. “For us, it was important to put a big knock on the door and show that we were playing better,” Riat said. The hardest part was done in this derby, even if we still had to hold on.
“Too many errors in the second third”
During the second period, the Ajoulots pushed to come back but Kevin Pasche was uncompromising. And the Lions, against the run of play, took a four-step lead thanks to a very good throw from Yannick Zehnder in power-play (38th). The final blow? This is a poor understanding of the esprit de corps that drives the HCA. 38 seconds later, Kyen Sopa, put into orbit by Anttoni Honka, could reduce the gap (38th).
“I don’t think it was the perfect match,” analyzed the Lions captain. We didn’t play 60 minutes at full strength. The match against Rappi was more accomplished, honestly. We made too many mistakes in the second third.” Without the HCA benefiting from it. More solid at the start of the third third, the LHC thought they could knock out their opponent thanks to a game of billiards which smiled on Axel Simic (50th). Success had chosen its side.
Kurashev soon at the LHC?
But the Ajoulots didn’t give up and even caused a few cold sweats among the 9,312 people present at the Vaudoise arena thanks to two successes scored in 38 seconds via Daniel Carr (55th) and Julius Honka (55th). “They score a goal, regain the momentum, continue to push and score a second just behind,” says Damien Riat. It’s difficult to explain. But we managed to hold on anyway.” And the captain scored a double by sealing the score in the empty cage (58th). Three important points before the trip to Berne on Friday and the reception of Kloten on Saturday. “It’s an important week for us. The ranking is tight, but if we manage to take points, we can put some teams behind.
The other element that has caused a lot of talk is the possible arrival of Philipp Kurashev at the LHC. According to an article from Blick, the Swiss international was seen on Wednesday on the ice at the Vaudoise arena, where he was training with Yannick Dubé, assistant coach of the Lions. Asked about his possible presence in the stands, Riat preferred to kick in with a smile on his face. “Maybe he just came to watch a game today because he missed Swiss hockey. I haven’t received a message from him, but maybe I’ll send him one this evening.” To ensure the arrival of the man who played more than 350 NHL games?
