With a 2-1 lead behind them, the EVZ has a chance to take a 3-1 series lead and the first semi-final puck in their next home game on Saturday in the federal city. A fourth consecutive win at the PostFinance Arena is also the goal of Dan Tangnes’ team, which has remained grounded after Thursday’s gala 6-1 performance. “The early 1:0 and the 3:0 lead after 27 minutes helped us. But we know that: The series is still open and the next game starts at 0-0 again,” said the Zug head coach, mixing caution and composure into his delight at the big win. “We played solidly and generated a lot of pressure going forward. The result was too high, but the win is important for us,” summarized Sven Leuenberger.

In their highest win of the season against the SCB, the Zug team certainly showed their muscles, as demanded by the fans in the impressive choreo in words (“Ab in Kampf für Blau und Wiiss”) and pictures. Since accepting the physical challenge, they not only won more duels against the Bernese, but also showed offensive penetration and defensive strength. The 4:1 win in Bern on Tuesday and the even clearer 6:1 win in Zug on Thursday are the result. Or to put it another way: 10:2 goals in favor of the EVZ in the last two games against the SCB! And that was without Jan Kovar, who was suspended for one game for an alleged offense against a referee. The proceedings opened at the same time were dropped on Friday. The EVZ captain, who is looking for his championship form but is irreplaceable on and off the ice, returns to the line-up on Saturday.

After three quarter-final games, Fabrice Herzog is tied with Fribourg’s Swede Lukas Wallmark and Marcus Sörensen at the top with five scoring points. Dario Simion has found his scoring touch again and is Zug’s top scorer in the playoffs with three goals. Like defenseman Lukas Bengtsson, he is among the players with four scoring points. Forwards Andreas Wingerli, Lino Martschini, Andreas Eder and Sven Leuenberger already have three scoring points. And in goal, seven-time champion Leonardo Genoni has the best save percentage of all goalkeepers after three playoff rounds (93.48 %). Dario Simion even scored twice in overtime – Zug’s powerplay woes are over, but they still have a below-average 18.18% in the playoffs. 

Nothing would be more dangerous for the EVZ than to underestimate the SCB after the last two games. The Bernese are obliged to react in front of the biggest crowd in Switzerland. The defenseman Marco Maurer, who grew up in Zug’s youth system and has been signed by SCB from champions Geneva-Servette until the end of the season, also expects this: “We know very well that Zug is strong offensively. On Thursday, the EVZ primarily benefited from our mistakes. Whether it’s 1:2 or 1:6 doesn’t matter for us, on Saturday we start from scratch again.”

The fact remains that on Thursday Adam Reideborn (84.13%) and Philip Wüthrich (78.57%), who took over between the posts after the 3:0 and 26:41 minutes, could not keep up with their counterparts. And that Swedish defenseman Patrik Nemeth, Bern’s only two-time goal scorer, was handed a one-game suspension after a foul (slew footing) on Andreas Eder and proceedings were initiated.