Abols Assists in Bern Win as Balcers Left Out of Lineup

In the Swiss top-flight hockey league, Latvia national team forward Rodrigo Abols recorded an assist as his club SC Bern won 5-2 away to Geneve-Servette. Meanwhile, Rudolfs Balcers and several other Latvian players did not take to the ice in their teams' games this round.

The hosts took an early 2-0 lead. Bern, whose roster also includes Latvian forward Denis Serkins, then not only levelled the score but scored four unanswered goals to go ahead. In the closing seconds, Emil Bemstrem sealed the win with an empty-net goal after a pass from Abols. It was Bern's third consecutive victory.

Abols spent a little over 18 minutes on the ice. In that time he made one assist, took three shots on goal, won 12 of 17 faceoffs and finished with a plus-minus of +1. Serkins played just under four minutes and had one shot on goal.

Other Latvians

Ajoie, represented by Denis Smirnovs, also won, beating Davos 6-3. Smirnovs played on the first line, spent just under 18 minutes on the ice, took two shots, won half of his faceoffs (6 of 12) and ended the game with a plus-minus of -1.

Balcers' Zurich lost 2-4 to Zug, and the Latvian forward was not included in the game roster. Rapperswil-Jona, with Ivars Punnenovs, lost to Lugano, which features Haralds Egle's compatriot Harijs Cjunskis; both Latvians watched the game from the reserves' bench. Markuss Komuls also watched from the bench as his Swedish club HV71 won and continues its fight to stay in Sweden's top league, the SHL.