Rapperswil-Jona vs Ceske Budejovice

The Extraliga side struck first. Marek Zachar opened the scoring at 05:51, finishing from Vaclav Nedorost's feed to give Motor an early lead. But Rapperswil responded swiftly.

Kevin Labanc levelled at 08:56 with an unassisted goal, then Nico Dünner put the Lakers ahead at 12:53 from Dominic Lammer's feed — 2–1 after one period despite conceding the opening goal inside six minutes.

The second period belonged entirely to Rapperswil. Labanc scored his second at 20:29, assisted by Lawrence Pilut and Dominic Lammer (3–1). Marlon Graf stretched the lead to 4–1 at 29:14, again set up by Pilut.

Motor pulled one back early in the third through Jakub Pour at 41:34 (Michal Bulir, Jan Stencel), cutting the deficit to 4–2. But any hope of a Czech comeback lasted six minutes. Gian-Marco Wetter restored the three-goal cushion at 47:10 (Daniil Ustinkov, Yannick-Lennart Albrecht), Valentin Hofer made it 6–2 at 52:39 (Victor Rask), and Fabrice Herzog capped the scoring at 57:15 with Labanc and Nicklas Jensen providing the assists.

Labanc's equaliser at 08:56, coming less than three minutes after Zachar's opener, prevented Motor from building any sustainable momentum. Once Dünner made it 2–1 at 12:53, the Lakers never trailed again. Labanc's second goal 29 seconds into the middle frame effectively sealed the game before the second intermission.

Kevin Labanc (Rapperswil-Jona) — Two goals (08:56, 20:29) and the primary assist on Herzog's 7–2 goal. The former NHL winger (335 games for San Jose) was the game's most influential skater, driving play through the neutral zone and finishing with three points. Player of the Match.

Lawrence Pilut (Rapperswil-Jona) — Two primary assists (on Labanc's second and Graf's goal), anchoring the Lakers' transition game from the blue line.

Marek Zachar (České Budějovice) — Scored the opening goal at 05:51, the lone bright spot in an otherwise difficult evening for the Czech visitors.

The period scoreline (2–1, 2–0, 3–1) reveals a game that was competitive for roughly 12 minutes before Rapperswil took control. The Lakers scored twice in 3:57 midway through the first to flip a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 lead, then never looked back. The second-period blanking (2–0) was decisive — Motor generated no response across the middle 20 minutes despite trailing by only one at the first break. Rapperswil's three third-period goals, two after Motor had cut the lead to 4–2, underlined the depth advantage. Six different goal-scorers (Labanc 2, Dünner, Graf, Wetter, Hofer, Herzog) spread the offence across multiple lines that Motor's defence could not contain.

This was Rapperswil-Jona's second match of the 14th Lehner Cup (27–30 August) at Eishalle Sursee. They face the Nürnberg Ice Tigers (DEL) on Sunday 30 August at 16:00 local to close out the tournament. Motor České Budějovice, having lost their opening Lehner Cup game 3–2 to EV Zug on Thursday, finish the tournament with two defeats and will look to regroup before the Czech Extraliga season begins. For the Lakers, this emphatic win provides a valuable confidence boost after a challenging pre-season that saw them lose earlier tests heavily — the club noted after a 17 August loss to Zug that they were "not yet where we want to be."

Next fixtures: Rapperswil-Jona vs Nürnberg Ice Tigers (30 August, 16:00); Motor České Budějovice return to Extraliga preparations ahead of the regular-season start.

A statement performance from Rapperswil-Jona. The Lakers took an early punch, absorbed it, and delivered six unanswered goals across the final 48 minutes. Labanc's quality stood out at this level, but the collective scoring depth — six different goal-scorers — was the more telling indicator for a side still building toward the NL season.