Reigning CHL Champions Genève-Servette had the comfort of a five-goal buffer and never lost the edge in their 7-4 win over Lausanne HC in the Return Game of their Round of 16 match-up.

Despite missing Sami Vatanen and netminder Antti Raanta from the line-up, it was a controlled game by Genève who narrowly outshot their opponents 25-23. Vincent Praplan led the charge for his side with a stunning five-point performance.

Lausanne had a mountain to climb and got off to a great start scoring 1.49 minutes into the play. An unfortunate step by Praplan saw Antti Suomela poke-check the puck to Damien Riat who slid it past netminder Robert Mayer to make it 1-0 for the visitors. 

A hooking penalty on forward Oula Palve would have been another chance but was run down by the hosts. As regular play resumed, Palve now fresh out of the penalty box redeemed himself instantly, rifling a slapshot from the high slot, and past Kevin Pasche to equalise at 6:33.

A little over a minute later, the hosts extended the lead 2-1, this time through Praplan who managed a neat, mid-air deflection off an initial shot from veteran blueliner Arnaud Jacquemet. 

Riat collected his second unassisted goal of the night, this time dangling his way into the slot to net the 2-2 equaliser at 14:28.

Genève continued the onslaught in the second period, taking advantage of any defensive errors by their rivals, including a poorly calculated clearance by Pasche, whose pass up the boards was intercepted by Praplan, after a perfectly executed forecheck from Michael Špaček.

Trailing 3-2, Lausanne's Top Scorer Suomela came dangerously close to pulling the trigger on the doorstep of Mayer but lost control at the critical moment. 

A tripping call on Canadian forward Josh Jooris handed Lausanne powerplay number three of the night, but they couldn't muster any offensive magic before the period intermission.

Lausanne netminder Antoine Keller stepped in to cover the final period for his team and was tested quickly. Less than two minutes into the play, Praplan would net his third goal of the night, a cannon, just in from the blueline.   

To make things worse, a call on Ken Jäger resulted in a penalty shot being awarded to the home team. Praplan who had been running hot all night, deked, pulling the puck to his backhand to beat Keller a second time, lighting the lamp a fourth time, and bringing the score to 5-2.

Jason Fuchs netted his first goal of the night, reducing the deficit to 5-3, but Genève were primed for two more powerplay goals, off the back of a high-sticking call on Gael Haas. Six seconds later Teemu Hartikainen would strike at 51:57 to make it 6-3, and Jooris once more, taking the scoreboard to 7-3. 

Back on equal strength, Lausanne's Michael Hügli responded to cut the deficit 7-4, but with less than six minutes remaining in the period, further efforts would prove futile.

The final buzzer sounded 7-4 in favour of Genève, who would close the series 12-4 on aggregate. The win punches the Quarter-Finals card for the maroon jerseys, while Lausanne's 2024/25 CHL journey comes to an end.