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Thanks to a 4-2 home win, ZSC leads 2-1 in the playoff final against Lausanne. Yannick Weber played a decisive role in the success.
Legend: ZSC defender Yannick Weber was happy. Keystone/Michael Buholzer
In 52 games during the regular season, Yannick Weber collected 9 points (4 goals and 5 assists). In the playoffs, the defender already has 3 goals and 5 assists after 11 games. In the previous three finals against Lausanne alone, he was successful twice and also provided an assist.
On Saturday, Weber played a decisive role in the Lions’ 4-2 home win, which gave them a 2-1 lead in the series against the Vaudois. The Nati player scored the important goal to equalize 2-2 in the 31st minute. 84 seconds later, Denis Malgin gave him an assist to make it 3-2.
“It’s cool when they go in and you can help the team like that. In the last game I hit the post twice. “I’m all the happier that I was able to contribute to a very important victory today,” said a satisfied Weber.
Longing for the first title
The 35-year-old is still waiting for the first title of his career. In 2017 he was very close to a big triumph in the NHL. Together with his compatriot Roman Josi, he and the Nashville Predators lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final series. In 2022, Weber and the ZSC Lions suffered a bitter 3:4 final defeat against EV Zug.
The longing for triumph is all the greater: “As an athlete, you want to play for medals and titles. It is a rare privilege to be a player in a final.” This year it should finally work: “We certainly have what it takes to become champions. But we take it game by game. We didn’t start the series the way we wanted. But now we are 2-1 up and have slowly found the way we have to play to be successful.”
We have to be ready and know that they will be better again.
However, there is still a long way to go before reaching the big goal. “It’s a close series, Lausanne is very stubborn.” Weber is sure that the Vaudois will make life difficult for the ZSC Lions again in Game 4. “We have to be ready and know that they will be better again. That’s why we have to be better again.”
Meanwhile, the Lausanne team hope that they can show off their home strength again on Tuesday. Fabian Heldner also knows where his team has to apply the levers: “We have to get back to our consistent style of play and pay more attention to the details again. We missed that a little bit in Game 3.”