Last season, EVZ and Lausanne only won at home – 6:3 and 2:1 after overtime in Lausanne, 6:2 and 4:1 in Zug. Back in the 2023/24 season, the western Swiss side won both duels in the Vaudoise aréna. Zug’s last victory on Lac Léman dates back to 4 March 2023 – on that occasion, EVZ set an exclamation mark with a 5-0 win in the final game of qualifying and qualified directly for the play-offs in 6th place thanks to the three points, while Lausanne finished the season in 11th place.

This year’s starting position is somewhat different: Lausanne have reached the play-off final against the ZSC Lions in each of the last two years and have also managed to establish themselves at the top of the table in the current championship, albeit with a large gap to the leaders from Davos. The situation is similar at EVZ: As at the end of the 2022/23 season, EVZ is bobbing around the play-off line. However, the gap between the 3rd and 8th-placed teams is extremely narrow – just four points separate Lausanne and Zug.

In the last game, EVZ put in a solid performance for long stretches against Lugano, but were beaten 3-2 despite a great final offensive display. Lugano started more actively and had longer spells of pressure in the powerplay, but Zug survived being outnumbered without conceding a goal. Both teams created chances and gave nothing away. The game was decided in the 55th minute when Zanetti scored flat through Wolf’s legs to make it 3:2 in favour of the visitors.

Lausanne recently lost 2:1 away to Fribourg-Gotteron. The game was characterised by defence and was only decided in the 58th minute when Gerber was given too much space in the slot. Lausanne’s coaches’ challenge was also unsuccessful. The defeat means that the French-speaking Swiss are now waiting for a win in regulation time for the fourth time in a row.