Matchball for Bern and Ambrì
10 Apr 2012 | Dennis Mende
SC Bern in the playoff finals and HC Ambrì-Piotta in the relegation both now only need one other win to decide their respective series.
Playoff finals: ZSC Lions - SC Bern 0:2Bern earned the first away win of this year's final series. In the first period ZSC player Patrick Geering had the best opportunity but his shot ended up at the goal post. In the 26th minute Byron Ritchie had the chance to get his team in front with a penalty shot but his attempt was stopped by Zürich goalie Lukas Flüeler. Three minutes later Ivo Rüthemann's shot from a central position found the way into the net for the Bern lead - this time Flüeler did not look that well. Bern now concentrated on their defense which worked quite well as Zürich only managed to get more pressure late in the third period. When the ZSC Lions had to risk everything by pulling out their goalie for an additional attacker it was Martin Plüss whose empty netter decided the game.
Bern leads 3-1 in the series
Relegation: SC Langenthal - HC Ambrì-Piotta 1:3 In the first three games of the seris the winning team always scored three goals and so it was also on Monday. Langenthal had to win to not be under serious pressure and so they went into their home game with a lot of motivation. In the 15th minute Marc Schefer used the first Langenthal power play to get the lead for his team. But with only 16 seconds left to play in the first period Inti Pestoni with a nice individual effort get past a defender and Langenthal goalie Marc Eichmann to score the equalizer. In the middle period nothing notable happened, but early in the third Alain Demuth madeit 1-2 with a wrap around. This time Marc Eichmann did not leave a good impression as he didn't even notice the puck. Instead of Langenthal trying to get the equalizer again, it was the NLA side Ambrì-Piotta that wanted the third goal more aggressively. With two and a half minutes to go Elias Bianchi decided the match after getting a rebound.
Ambrì leads 3-1 in the series