Davos keep grip on league table

Davos' Andreas Camenzind (left) holds back Zug's Christoph Brown Keystone

Davos remained top of the Swiss ice hockey league on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over Zug at home, staying ahead of Ambri.

The first 10 minutes of the match saw goals scored in fast and furious fashion. Sutter opened proceedings with a goal for the home team in the fourth minute, but the visitor’s Canadian Tancill levelled things within the next 60 seconds.

Davos pulled ahead again four minutes later thanks to Marha. Zug refused give away any advantage to their opponents, with Ivankovic potting a shot past Davos goalkeeper Lars Weibel.

Only one more, decisive goal was scored for the rest of the match, Bohonos netting one for the home team in the second period. Penalties were a major factor in this game, with three of the five goals scored on power plays.

Ambri failed to stay in touch with the Graubünden team, losing at home against Lausanne 2-3. The eighth-placed Lions hadn’t travelled to Ticino to lose and opened the scoring thanks to Shamolin with the first period’s only goal.

Ambri quickly drew even after the first break thanks to Fritsche. In the final period, Petrovicky put the locals ahead after eight minutes, but 60 seconds later Meier cancelled out the advantage.

The same player was the match-winner for Lausanne, scoring four minutes further on.

Lugano second

Lugano defeated Bern in a hard-fought game at the Resega stadium 4-3 in overtime, taking the opportunity to leap into second place in the league table. The Bianconeri held the early advantage with two goals in the first period.

The Bears bit back in the second, scoring the lone goal. Lugano looked to surge ahead with a Cadieux goal halfway through the final term, but Armstrong and Baumann allowed the visitors to draw even.

There was hardly any overtime but Sutter took advantage of the fe extra minutes to score the sudden-death goal that sealed Lugano’s victory.

In Langnau, the locals held Fribourg-Gottéron to a 2-2, with the advantage going one way, then the other.

In Kloten, the Flyers were the overtime winners of the cantonal derby against Zurich, 4-3. The Lions’ new coach, Pekka Rautakallio, saw his men lose to a team eight points behind them in the standings.

The game saw no real advantage go to either team. Each period was a one-all draw. Kloten earned its sudden-death victory with a power-play goal from O’Sullivan.

Davos is still top of the league with 32 points after 23 games, followed by Lugano and Ambri on 28. Kloten moved into ninth place, drawing even with Rapperswil who did not play, two points adrift of Lausanne.

Chur is last with just nine points.

swissinfo with agencies