Ambri stick a thorn in the Lions’ paw

Ambri (in blue) went head-to-head with the Zurich Lions twice over the weekend Keystone

The third round of the ice hockey league play-offs on Sunday saw the defending champions, the Zurich Lions, lose to Ambri 3-4.

The Ticinese side fought back from Saturday’s defeat to take a bite out of the Lions’ confidence in the third showdown of a best-of-seven competition.

Ambri got off to a good start scoring 3 goals in the first period with the puck hitting the back of the net in the second, fourth and eighth minute.

But this exponential scoring rate dropped off during the next two periods, with Ambri scoring their final goal in the second period. Zurich played well and scored a goal in each period, but it was not enough to see off the Italian-speaking competition.

Bern vs Davos

Bern were victorious against Davos for the second time this weekend winning 4-1.

In front of a 6,000-strong crowd, the boys from the capital dominated the action on the ice scoring in all three periods. Davos didn’t get their act together until the third period, when they scored their only goal of the match.

Lausanne vs Chur

Like Bern, Lausanne notched up their second victory in 48 hours by beating Chur 4-1.

The lakeside team scored in all three periods but the beginning of the second period was where most of the action took place, with three goals being scored within seven minutes.

Lausanne scored in the 31st minute, Chur in the 35th and Lausanne again in the 38th. The fans then had to wait until the third period for Lausanne’s final goal.

Other action

Kloten, Zug and Langnau all bounced back from defeats on Saturday.

Kloten beat Fribourg 4-2, Zug thrashed Lugano 5-2, and Langnau turned the tables on Rapperswil 3-1.

The first team to win four matches out of seven will progress to the play-off semi-finals. The teams will go head-to-head again on Tuesday.

swissinfo with agencies