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Lausanne lost the first act of the pre-play-off on its ice rink against Ambri (1-2). The Lions play their season on Sunday in Leventina. This is why the LHC already has its back to the wall.
A defeat and here is already the LHC back to the wall. Sunday in Ambri, the Lions must win, otherwise…
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
A defeat despite a very large domination. Like a feeling of deja vu for John Fust’s team, which once again created a multitude of chances without managing to make a difference.
Unlike a regular season match, this setback conceded on Friday at the Vaudoise arena against Ambri could have serious consequences if it is not followed by a victory this Sunday in Leventine (act II at 7:45 p.m.). Here’s what went wrong in Round 1 and why the LHC is down to a season-ending loss.
A 1st block set back
The Czech Jiri Sekac did not have his usual performance.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
A little easy to pinpoint blame, but the LHC parry line (Damien Riat/Jason Fuchs/Jiri Sekac) didn’t have their usual grip on the match and the consequence is that Lausanne HC lacked percussion in attack . The Czech Jiri Sekac had a complicated first period, before finally getting into the towers in the second part of the evening. The Lions topscorer certainly had several golden pucks at the end of the cane, but overall he did not have his usual performance of the year 2022.
Damien Riat went through this first act of the pre-play-off while Jason Fuchs seemed much less comfortable than during his last outings. The three men, who had accustomed us to creating sparks on every outing lately, gave the impression Friday that they couldn’t really find themselves on the ice. This defeat shows how dependent the LHC has become on the performance of its parade line.
To make matters worse, the second trio – that of the American Andy Miele, associated with Tim Bozon and Francis Paré – was also disappointing. Among the attackers, too many players did not have their usual performance and only Ken Jäger finally released a match worthy of the name. This is obviously too little when the stakes are so high.
Efficiency, again and again…
45 Lausanne shots for a single goal, signed Ken Jäger. It’s not enough.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
It’s a recurring problem: the LHC doesn’t easily score goals. The Lions took 45 shots on goal and almost half of those shots can be considered quality chances. All this to score a meager goal (Ken Jäger, author of his fifth goal in six matches). “By creating so many chances, you have to win a hockey match, regretted the coach, John Fust. But this efficiency problem is not new…”
In the defense of the LHC, the Finnish goalkeeper of Ambri, Janne Juvonen, still “stole” a match for the Biancoblu, who are now seven wins in a row! There is no question of upsetting the offensive alignment for the second act Sunday. The attacking trios have proven themselves in recent weeks. All that remains is to relax in front of the nets and finally be a little more effective offensively. It remains to be seen whether the Gottardo Arena which promises to be on fire on Sunday will really be the best place to correct all this…
A power-play of no help
Play-off or pre-play-off, the situations make the difference. Ambri scored on his first five-on-four streak (with five seconds left in the penalty box for defender Andrea Glauser), Lausanne went six minutes and 18 seconds with a man more without scoring. At home, in a cleaver match, it is necessarily insufficient. “We will probably make some changes to our special teams for the second game,” announced John Fust, well aware that his LHC will not go far if he is unable to make the difference in numerical superiority.
The details, as usual
Juvonen, Ambri’s goalkeeper, made the difference.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
A play-off match (or in this case pre-play-off) is played on details, it is well known. On Friday, the LHC was no exception. Christoph Bertschy – certainly the player who most needed to score a big goal – even scored a huge and magnificent one less than a quarter of an hour from the end of the first act. His wrist shot in the skylight, which should have been 2-1 in favor of the LHC, blew up the Vaudoise arena before all these good vibrations fell like a breath due to an offside of a few millimeters. A few minutes later, Ambri closed the deal on one of his rare clear chances of the evening.