It's an all-Swiss clash across two games in this Round of 16 match-up as Lausanne HC take on reigning CHL Champions Genève-Servette with a place in the Quarter-Finals on the line. Will Genève's hopes of defending their European Club Champions crown hold firm or is it time for in-form Lausanne to shine?
- Lausanne have CHL's best defence with only 9 goals against
- Michael Špaček ended RS as CHL's Top Scorer with 12 points
- Cities are only 63 km apart
Lausanne HC host Genève-Servette in the First Game of their Round of 16 match-up, as Lausanne, the higher-ranked team of the pairing, will be on the road for the Return Game. However it shouldn't be a disadvantage, as the two cities from the French-speaking part of Switzerland are separated by a drive of less than one hour along scenic Lake Geneva, giving fans the opportunity to attend both home and away games of this series.
Genève enter the Playoffs as the reigning European Club Champions, having defeated Skellefteå 3-2 at home in last year’s Final. Lausanne’s farthest CHL run so far was to the Quarter-Finals in 2019/20.
During the Champions Hockey League Regular Season, Lausanne finished third with 14 points and Genève finished 14th with 10 points. With the CHL’s sixth-ranked offence, Genève outscored Lausanne 21-17 in the Regular Season. However, defence has been Lausanne’s speciality, conceding only nine goals in six games, compared to Genève’s 19 goals against.
In the area of special teams, both teams have rather average powerplays at 18.52 and 18.18%, respectively, with Genève’s being slightly better. Both are excellent on the penalty kill, however. In fact, Genève’s is best in the CHL at the moment with 90.48% while Lausanne’s is tied for third at 87.50%.
At 57.32%, Genève are the CHL’s second-best faceoff-winning team, while Lausanne are down at 47.54%, giving Genève a significant edge to get possession of the puck off the draw.
Individually, Genève’s Michael Špaček enters the knockout rounds as the CHL's Top Scorer with 12 points (7G, 5A) and is the outright leader in goals with seven, and in powerplay goals with five. Finns Sakari Manninen and Sami Vatanen are the team’s co-leaders in assists with six. Last season's CHL MVP Vatanen also leads the entire CHL in ice time with a whopping 24:57 per game. Simon Le Coultre also has six points and a team-leading 14 blocked shots.
Lausanne’s top scorer is another Finn, Antti Suomela, with four goals and six points. Suomela also leads the team with 20 shots on goal, which ranks sixth in the CHL. Ken Jäger and ex-NHLer Michael Raffl follow Suomela with five points each. The team doesn’t really have one dominant defenceman, with most statistics spread quite evenly and nobody with more than two points. Fabian Heldner has the best plus/minus on the team at +5.
Four different goalies played for Genève in the group stage, with Robert Mayer posting the best numbers in his two outings. Though only playing just two games, Lausanne’s Antoine Keller has some of the CHL’s best goalie stats as he allowed just one goal, giving him a 0.50 goals-against average, a 97.30 save percentage and a shutout.
When it comes to these two, it's all up in the air. Genève had a tough Regular Season but their numbers are on a par with those of Lausanne's. The switched hosting rights will be an interesting twist in this two-game series!