Hockey sur glace: Ajoie perd face à Zoug après avoir mené au score

The HC Ajoie suffered a disappointment on Friday against EV Zug. Leading after two periods and having a good 40 minutes until then, they cracked at the end of the match. A turnover by Dmytro Timashov in the offensive zone and on a power play led to Dario Simion’s 2-2. This equalizer hurt the Jurassians, who did not recover. Kloten, their closest competitor, once again won against Davos, thus increasing the gap between them and the 13th place.

A week after their last match and a 2-6 loss at home against Ambri, Christian Wohlwend abandoned his plan of using six foreign attackers. For the visit of the new National League leader, the HCA coach chose caution over excess. With the return of Canadian Eric Gélinas and American T.J. Brennan in the defensive setup (replacing captain Phil-Michaël Devos and Guillaume Asselin), the defensive foundations were reinforced without harming the offense, as both Gélinas and Brennan (to a lesser extent) are capable of creating a threat in front of the opponent’s net. This was necessary for the reception of the new category leader.

For once, Ajoie’s imports did not take center stage. Kevin Bozon was the first to play the hero by quickly finding the opening (5th). Although his success was lucky and owed much to the clumsiness of Luca Hollenstein, who was surprised by a shot with no great pretensions from the Frenchman, Bozon’s hard work to retrieve the puck behind the net was appreciated.

Starting on a good note (Hazen and Timaskov missed the 1-0 on a break in the 3rd minute), Ajoie was equalized in the middle of the initial period. While shorthanded after a four-minute penalty to Timashov for a high stick, Sven Senteler put Zug back on track, unless it was the skate of Thomas Thiry.

The bottom team of the National League was not daunted by this comeback. On a power play for five minutes following Dario Allenspach’s expulsion for an elbow to Kevin Fey’s face, the HCA went ahead on a direct shot by Kyen Sopa that ended up in the top corner (18th).

They held onto their advantage until 12 minutes from the end. A turnover by Dmytro Timashov in the offensive zone, while his team was one player up, gave Zug an opening that Dario Simion did not hesitate to exploit (2-2, 49th). Like the day before against the Grisons, Zug managed to tilt the balance in their favor at the end of the game. Four minutes after the equalizer, Attilio Biasca beat Damiano Ciaccio after a failed zone exit, delivering a final blow to the Jurassians who were taught a lesson in realism.

So they will face Lausanne on Sunday in Vaud with a third consecutive defeat.