With the 4:1 away win in Bern on Tuesday, the EVZ regained home ice advantage and momentum in the playoff quarter-final series against SC Bern two days after the 3:4 home defeat. This must be defended tonight in the BOSSARD Arena!

The team showed a reaction in front of 16,547 spectators in their third consecutive win at the PostFinance Arena that one would not necessarily have expected after only one win in the last eleven games. Tight at the back and focussed on safety, straightforward and efficient at the front. That was the motto of the visitors, who did not allow themselves to be rattled by the tough and at times somewhat provocative behaviour of the Bernese and were 3:1 ahead after two periods, as they had been in Zug on Sunday. At Sporttip, the official sports betting provider of Swisslos, those who were still betting on a Bernese victory at this point would have received thirty times the odds and would have been right. This was despite the fact that the home side had managed to do just that 48 hours earlier. It shows how solidly the EVZ played that evening.

The fact that the Bernese, who at times attacked wildly, were unable to prevail despite a shot ratio of 41:25 had a lot to do with Leonardo Genoni (save percentage 97.56%). The Zug keeper performed like he did in his best play-off days in front of national team coach Patrick Fischer and transferred his confidence to the players in front of him. They played more solidly defensively than two days earlier and needed fewer chances offensively to break down the opposition’s defence. Dario Simion scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season and even scored in overtime after eleven games without a powerplay goal. Andreas Eder scored his third goal in the last five games in cold blood after a clever assist from Sven Leuenberger, while the tireless Fabrice Herzog earned the gold helmet of playoff top scorer with his third assist

EVZ’s long-term injured players were better and, above all, more confident in their second competitive outing, and the whole team rose to the physical challenge posed by their physical opponents. The return of Livio Stadler, who set up Dominik Schlumpf for his second goal of the season with a dream pass, also had a positive effect. With Zug’s fourth goal, the question of who would win in Bern was already answered twelve minutes before the end.

It would come as no surprise if Philip Wüthrich were to stand between the posts on Thursday and the SCB were to attack with six foreign outfield players. While Adam Reideborn delivered a save rate below 90% in both games, Philip Wüthrich put in an impeccable performance in the 4-1 win on 23 February. It pays to remain on guard against this storming SCB.