In the National League, Genève-Servette HC and HC Ajoie staged remarkable comebacks against HC Davos and Langnau respectively, while ZSC Lions secured a record of 10 matches without defeat to start the campaign.
Genève-Servette Overcomes an Injury Crisis to Stun Davos
The matchup at Les Vernets saw Genève-Servette face a staggering personnel deficit. The team managed a severe injury crisis that sidelined Untersander, Praplan, Hischier, Chanton, Müller, and Saarijärvi. With Jesse Puljujärvi serving a suspension and only two imports, Vesey and Rutta, fully available, the odds heavily favored the visiting Grisons. Vili Saarijärvi joined the medical room for six weeks, adding to an absentee list that also featured Granlund, Manninen, and Rod as healthy scratches, alongside Akeson with the farm team. HC Davos traveled with a lineup featuring Hollenstein and Aeschlimann in goal; skaters Jung, Egli, Frick, Allard, Gernát, Andersson, and Van der Kaaij; along with forwards Zadina, Corvi, Frehner, Parrée, Waidacher, Kessler, Lemieux, Nussbaumer, Aebli, Tambellini, Jäger, and Steiner, while Solèr and Bächler were newcomers, Ryfors, Schreiber, Asplund, and Gross were injured, and Müller and Minder were with the farm team. The arena was colored pink in support of breast cancer awareness month in front of 6,925 spectators, with officials MacFarlane, Staudenmann, Huguet, and Urfer overseeing the game.
Davos capitalized early. Brendan Lemieux opened the scoring at the 07:06 mark before striking again on the power play at 11:46. Matthew Verboon struck at 12:03 to keep the hosts within striking distance.
The third period brought the decisive shift. Josh Jooris equalized at 52:24, setting the stage for Jan Rutta to play the hero. With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Rutta slipped the puck past a displaced Hollenstein to seal a 3-2 victory. It was a stunning collapse for Davos, who controlled the run of play for large stretches.
Ajoie’s Dramatic Porrentruy Remontada
Down 4-1 against Langnau, HC Ajoie engineered the comeback of the night in front of a raucous crowd in Porrentruy. The Jurassiens clawed their way back into the contest through relentless forechecking and elite execution from their import core. Anttoni Honka ultimately delivered the extra-point winner in the extra session, netting a brilliant overtime goal at the 63rd minute to secure a 5-4 triumph.
All five scoring plays for Ajoie originated from their foreign contingent, including tallies from Carr, Nättinen, Turkulainen and the brothers Honka. The victory keeps Ajoie in the top 6, validating their strong start to the regular season.
Zurich Sets Historic Pace While Lausanne Bounces Back
In other National League action, the ZSC Lions carved their name into the record books. The team ground out a 5-4 overtime victory against Fribourg-Gottéron, courtesy of a game-winner from Lammikko at the 65th minute that bounced off Anthony Richard’s equipment and across the line. The win extended Zurich’s start to 10 matches without defeat, establishing a historic record and taking absolute command of the championship standings, while Genève-Servette climbed to second place.
After conceding an early goal to Jensen, the Vaudois exploded in the middle stanza with four unanswered markers from Heldner, Zehnder, Simic, and Caggiula. Newly arrived Connor Carrick also featured in the match with several scoring chances.
| Fixture | Result | Key Decisive Factor |
|---|---|---|
| Genève-Servette vs. HC Davos | 3-2 | Jan Rutta’s late-game winner amid severe injury absences. |
| HC Ajoie vs. Langnau | 5-4 (OT) | Anttoni Honka’s overtime strike completing a 4-1 comeback. |
| ZSC Lions vs. Fribourg-Gottéron | 5-4 (OT) | Lammikko’s 65th-minute winner securing a 10-game win streak. |
| Rapperswil vs. Lausanne HC | 1-4 | A four-goal second-period blitz by the Vaudois. |
| HC Lugano vs. EHC Biel | 4-2 | Lugano managing the late-game tempo to stifle Seeland’s attack. |
Jeff Skinner added his 6th goal of the campaign past goaltender Robert Mayer, whom Mitell deployed in the Ticino net, but the defeat leaves Biel in 13th place in the standings.
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