No points for HCD in the home game against the champions

The game

History will be written in Davos on Sunday afternoon. For HCD captain Andres Ambühl it is the 1269th game in the National League, with the 41-year-old drawing level with Beat Gerber, who defended for Langnau and Bern from 1999 to 2023.

The ZSC Lions got off to a much better start. They felt like they were constantly on the puck in the first eight minutes and rewarded themselves with the lead in the fourth minute. Derek Grant puts it back on Rudolfs Balcers and the Latvian can net unchallenged. It takes almost nine minutes until the first good opportunity in Davos. Matej Stransky shoots past, shortly afterwards ZSC goalie Robin Zumbühl parries against HCD top scorer Adam Tambellini. In the 16th minute, Davos goalkeeper Sandro Aeschlimann's skills are in demand. He defends himself against Grant, who charges at him alone.

Because the HCD is gaining momentum after the Zurich start and is keeping up with the pace, it's a fast-paced party. The same style continues in the middle third. And with possibilities on both sides. In the 25th minute, the Davos team celebrates the 1:1. Tambellini has no trouble converting after Yannick Frehner's cross pass. A little later, Frehner had the opening goal on his stick, but was denied by Zumbühl. Just before the half of the game, Balcers is sent on his way with a long pass. He lifts the puck over the goal with his backhand alone in front of Aeschlimann. In return, Enzo Corvi has a great opportunity on the other side, but misses it. In the last minute of the middle third, Davos striker Simon Ryfors has to go to the penalty box. The champions use this to score their first (!) power play goal of the current season. Defender Mikko Lehtonen's wrist shot isn't sharp, but it's well placed. Aeschlimann has a lot of traffic in front of his goal and doesn't see the puck. Four seconds before the halftime siren, the Lions take the lead for the second time.

This goal gives the Lions a boost. In the first minutes of the third period they survived a penalty from Denis Malgin and otherwise controlled the action. Then in the 47th minute the guests benefited from Enzo Guebey being unable to control the screen behind his own goal after an inaccurate back pass from Davyd Barandun. The puck comes to Santtu Kinnunen via Jesper Fröden, and the Finnish defender scores with precision from a tight angle to make it 3-1 for Zurich. Aeschlimann prevented the decision against Yannick Zehnder in the 49th minute, but in return Valentin Nussbaumer missed alone in front of Zumbühl when he shot past the goal. Just under 200 seconds before the end of regular playing time, Julius Honka makes things exciting again. The defender goes on the attack with Ambühl, supported by his preparatory work and gives Zumbühl no chance when he shoots over the catcher's hand from close range – only 3:2 for the Lions. The Davos team then tried everything with an additional field player, but Filip Zadina had to play goalkeeper in front of their own goal and thus prevented the shot into the empty goal. The Davos team is no longer able to achieve anything at the front. In an attractive, intense party, the Lions leave the ice as winners in front of 5,662 spectators.

The top 3

Mikko Lehtonen: In defense, the Finn is as reliable as ever for the Lions and in attack he scored the groundbreaking goal to make it 2-1 shortly before the second break.

Yannick Frehner: The HCD striker fights as usual and also sets offensive accents in the attack line with Simon Ryfors and Adam Tambellini – not just with his assist to equalize the score at 1-1.

Robin Zumbühl: The 25-year-old goalkeeper is not often used behind Simon Hrubec. The game in Davos is his second of the current season, and Zumbühl makes an excellent calling card with his saves.

So let's move on

HCD will play its next game at home against SC Bern on Thursday from 8 p.m. With his 1270th game in the National League, Ambühl will set the new league record. Five minutes before the game begins, the HCD captain is honored on the ice.