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FR Gottéron receives the LHC this Tuesday for Act III of the quarter-finals (8 p.m.). Beaten in Lausanne on Sunday, the Dragons are once more under pressure at home. It’s 1-1 in the series.
Lausanne HC returns to Friborg on Tuesday for the third match of the series. If they want to qualify, the Lions will have to win at least once at the BCF Arena.
Claudio De Capitani / freshfocus
Act III of the quarter-final of the play-off between FR Gotteron and Lausanne HC takes place this Tuesday evening (8 p.m.) in Friborg land. Will the Dragons be able to bounce back immediately following their mortifying defeat on Sunday in Lausanne (5-4 following extra time)? Or will the LHC succeed in the first break in this French-speaking series? Here are the keys to the third leg between the Dragons and the Lions:
At the LHC, what guardian?
Will Tobias Stephan be returned to the LHC nets for Act III?
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
Tobias Stephan or Luca Boltshauser? A “problem of the rich”, as Cristobal Huet, LHC assistant coach, pointed out before the start of the series once morest FR Gottéron. Lausanne has the choice between Tobias Stephan, winner of Act II on Tuesday, and Luca Boltshauser, beaten in the first round in Friborg last Friday. Opposite, Gottéron has no choice at all: Reto Berra will not be entitled to any respite during these play-offs. For the LHC, while none of their goalkeepers (of equal caliber) have really stood out so far, the question is probably whether it is better to send back in front of the net a goalkeeper who has already been beaten once at Freiburg but fresher (Boltshauser), or else bet on the one who has not yet played there in the play-off this year and who is camping on a recent victory (Stephan). If we had to bet a penny, we would opt for the second option.
Finally any solutions for Jiri Sekac?
So far, Gottéron has perfectly muzzled the LHC Czech Jiri Sekac.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
It’s still just as complicated for Jiri Sekac. FR Gottéron perfectly controlled (and frustrated) the Czech during the first two confrontations. The defensive duo Sutter / Furrer has a lot to do with it. Well aware of this problem, John Fust modified his first attacking triplet in Act II by placing a more dynamic player with better skating (Bertschy instead of Riat) in Sekac’s line. If Bertschy played a solid game, the Czech did not seem more comfortable once morest the Freibourgese, who continued to reduce his spaces and harassed him each time he seized the puck. Both for Lausanne and for FR Gottéron, the performance of the Lions topscorer will be decisive throughout the series.
Will Gottéron (still) manage the pressure?
The Dragons are solid at home.
Claudio De Capitani / freshfocus
The Dragons did not tremble during the first act won at home (2-0) when they nevertheless came out of a series of six defeats in a row in the league and had not scored for three matches. Why would they crack this time in front of their audience? If the LHC wants to reach the semi-finals, it will necessarily have to win at least once in Fribourg. And for the Lions, it would be better not to wait for a possible 7th match to tackle this complicated task. Still, the formation of Christian Dubé is particularly solid within its four walls this season. But: the equalizer conceded 32 seconds from the end of regulation time on Sunday in Lausanne (Ken Jäger), then the goal received in extra time (Francis Paré) when the Dragons, a few minutes earlier, were in a position to tackle the third act with a 2-0 series lead, aren’t these one of the events that can upend a playoff streak? Answer this Tuesday from 8 p.m., where the reaction of Gottéron, in front of his audience, will necessarily be eagerly awaited.
Finally real play-off hockey?
For now, Killian Mottet walks every game.
Claudio De Capitani / freshfocus
Apart from its crazy end to the match on Sunday, the LHC purrs and plays November hockey, which suits the Fribourgeois well: they can quietly play their game without being too violent. Killian Mottet is walking around (already two goals), Andreï Bykov has so much freedom and space that he even looks like the Bykov of his best years. Chris DiDomenico? The Canadian probably did not imagine living such a quiet series. In any case, the Fribourgeois have no interest in things changing and the series taking on more emotional and physical dimensions. The LHC, for its part, would still do well to activate its “play-off mode” briefly glimpsed during the last minutes of Act II won in Lausanne on Sunday. If not…
