Three rounds left to play in the 2023-24 regular season. EVZ plays twice more at home, on Thursday against the ZSC Lions, the leaders, and on Saturday against Geneva-Servette, the 2024 Champions Hockey League winners. On Monday, the final matchday, it will host Lausanne.

The competition did not play for the EVZ on Tuesday. Lausanne pushed Zug back into fourth place with their 4-0 home win against Geneva and have a three-point lead with a game in hand. Lugano (fifth with 6 points behind), SC Bern (sixth with 7 points behind) and HC Davos (seventh with 8 points behind, 6:4 home win against Ajoje on Tuesday) can also overtake EVZ and even drop back to 7th place.

That would mean a play-in duel against the team in 8th place (currently Geneva-Servette). The fact is that the three immediate pursuers in places 5-7 will not meet in the last three rounds.

But it is also a fact that Dan Tangnes’ team still has a place in the top four and can defend this place without winning its last three games. It can still finish third under its own steam, gain home-ice advantage for the quarter-finals or at least qualify directly for the play-offs. That’s not a foregone conclusion in this league. Even after seven defeats and only five of a possible 24 points from the last eight home games, the EVZ has 12 more points after 49 games than last year!

Admittedly: In the 1:5 against Lugano, 1:4 against Bern and 0:3 in Langnau, the injury-ravaged Zug team left a disorganised and unsettled impression. The designated key players were invisible. Two goals in three games are the best proof of this. The team that scored the most goals for a long time and had the best goal difference is struggling with self-confidence at the moment. Andreas Eder at least made a physical statement in Langnau and had to go to the showers early for it. The German is still eligible to play against the Zurich team.

Perhaps the EVZ should take another look at the last game in the Swiss Life Arena. They won 3:2 – only after overtime (Michelis 61.30 minutes), but highly deserved. In general, he showed his strong side against the strong teams, as the away victories in Zurich, Davos, Bern and Geneva prove. This is urgently needed against the ZSC Lions (8 wins in the last 10 games), who are spoilt for success – even without the injured regulars Brian O’Neill, Grégory Hofmann, Tobias Geisser, Niklas Hansson, Riley Sheen and Livio Stadler!