Lausanne HC will take a one-goal lead into their home leg against HC Pilsen on 19 November, and in their first taste of Champions Hockey League are aiming to knock out last season’s Semi-Finalists.
Read the full match recap here
“It was a fun game. Pilsen have a great team and battled well out there, but it’s not really a win because there are another three periods next week,” began game-winning goal scorer Joel Genazzi. “Nevertheless, it was a fun game to play in as a player.”
Being Lausanne’s first time in the CHL Playoffs, it was also their first experience of aggregate scoring games. Was it a little unusual for them? “It is a little bit, you think that you win the game but you don’t. You have to keep going until the last shift, at 2-1 up you try to score but at the same time you know that you definitely don’t want to get scored on as everything carries over to the next game,” he explained. “It’s a new situation for us, it’s fun but also a little strange and requires everyone to focus that little bit extra than a normal league game.”
"Nothing should change, it’s the same mentality that it’s a 0-0 game"Joel Genazzi on next week's second leg in Lausanne
Heading back home with a lead, will Lausanne approach the return fixture any differently? “Nothing should change, it’s the same mentality that it’s a 0-0 game,” Genazzi affirmed. “We know Pilsen are going for it just like us, and everyone will battle. They forecheck hard, skate a lot, and it’s exciting to play against them.
Pilsen are the second Czech side that Genazzi’s team have played in this season’s CHL. What makes them different to a regular Swiss opponent? “The forecheck makes things a little tighter than we’re used to, so there’s less space and from our point of view Czech teams come at you more aggressively,” he explained. “In our own league sometimes we play a lot of trapping and passive hockey, whereas I feel like both Pilsen and Oceláři Třinec really came at us more. There weren’t many penalties in Pilsen either, so it was really down to battling and playing a good game.”
Lastly, on a cold midweek night Lausanne’s fans packed out the away section of Pilsen’s rink, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the players. “Our fans are always coming, they’re great guys and knowing they’re here makes us better. Pilsen got a small taste of them with the fans who travelled there, but they’ll see how special it is in our arena next week!” he concluded.