The Växjö Lakers from Sweden host Fribourg-Gottéron from Switzerland in the First Game of their Round of 16 matchup. While Fribourg are the higher-seeded team, there wasn’t much separating them in the Regular Season as the Swiss club finished fifth with 12 points, while the Lakers were 12th with ten.
- First-time match-up between Fribourg and Växjö
- Fribourg 4th best offence, Växjö 2nd best defence in RS
- Fribourg outhit Växjö 8.17 to 2.67 per game
While both teams have played in the Champions Hockey League on several past occasions, this is the first time the Växjö Lakers and Fribourg-Gottéron cross paths. This marks the fifth time that the Lakers have reached the Round of 16 and the fourth time for Fribourg. In 2016/17, both teams advanced to the Semi-Finals and the following season, Växjö made the Final, losing 2-0 on home ice to Finnish club JYP Jyväskylä.
Fribourg have been one of the CHL’s top offensive teams this year, scoring 23 goals in six games, which ranks them fourth. That’s almost twice as many as Växjö’s 13 goals. On the other hand, the Lakers have the CHL’s second-stingiest defence with only 12 goals against in six games, while Fribourg have conceded 16.
In terms of special teams, the Lakers have the CHL’s eighth-ranked powerplay at 25.00% and Fribourg are 20th at 16.00%. Fribourg, however, are the CHL’s second-best penalty-killing team at 88.24% while the Lakers are 18th at 76.19%.
Both teams are just slightly below 50% faceoffs, but Fribourg has been a much more physical team through the Regular Season. Their 8.17 hits per game rank them third in that department, while the Lakers are at almost the opposite end of the scale as one of the competition’s least physical teams with 2.67 hits per game.
Individually, Swedes Marcus Sörensen and Lucas Wallmark lead Fribourg offensively with 10 and eight points, respectively. Sörensen and Wallmark are also first and second in plus/minus at +9 and +8, respectively. Christoph Bertschy leads forwards with 13 shots on goal and five blocked shots. Among defencemen, Yannick Rathgeb leads with three points and also leads the entire team with eight blocked shots.
Joachim Blichfeld leads Växjö in scoring with seven points and he’s tied for the team lead with three goals. Dennis Rasmussen is next with five points, while defenceman Joel Persson has four points – all assists – and leads the team in ice time at 19:54. Blichfield and Dylan McLaughlin both have 18 shots on goal, followed by Persson’s 17.
In goal, Reto Berra is Fribourg’s clear starter even though he only played in two Regular Season games, winning both and surrendering only three goals in the process. For the Lakers, Adam Åhman has a 1.81 goals-against average and 93.65 save percentage in his three games.
Växjö's stellar powerplay unit and Fribourg's strong PK unit will both be put to the test in this game between two very equally matched teams with strong European pedigree!