The Genevans, beaten Sunday evening in Lugano (4-3 ap), will not play in the play-offs.
© Marusca Rezzonico / freshfocus
Justin Abdelkader and Lugano showed their fangs and sent Genève-Servette on vacation.
GE Servette’s season is already over. The Eagles, who had no room for error, lost Sunday evening in Lugano, at the end of the suspense (4-3 following extra time). Already beaten on Friday at Vernets, they lost 2-0 in this mini-series and let the Ticino slip away in the quarter-finals of the play-offs – there they will face Zug, with the hope of creating a surprise. For the Genevans, vice-champions of Switzerland in title, the disillusion is however particularly bitter.
Jan Cadieux’s players left the Corner Arena all the more bruised as they did not go far from saving their skin. More disciplined than during the first meeting, they did not however manage to deliver a perfectly clean copy. And as often, the small details made the big difference. The bad rebound granted by a masked Gauthier Descloux on Riva’s shot was more imprecise than error. But he cost Abdelkader’s opener in the 17th minute. While Geneva had turned the tide thanks to two successes from Mike Völlmin (23rd) and Noah Rod (29th), Lugano had no time to doubt and equalized in stride.
The Eagles, deprived of Henrik Tömmernes following a few minutes of play, hung on until the end, as proved by the furious equalizer from Tanner Richard (53rd), in response to Riva’s 3-2 in the 47th. But on both sides of the ice, he will have missed a little something each time. These little extras, those which had made GE Servette the best team in Switzerland in 2022 in accounting terms, disappeared at the worst time. Where it all happens.
