The score has been 2-0 in favour of the Zurich team since Wednesday’s extremely close 0-1 draw in the series, while Zug, who finished fourth in the qualifiers, already have their backs to the wall. They have to win twice more against the ZSC Lions in the sold-out Swiss Life Arena to reach the final.
The first two games have shown that this is not impossible. “It could just as easily be 1:1,” even captain Patrick Geering had to admit after the second playoff duel. Twice a “long” penalty decided the encounter. In the Lions’ 5-2 home win in the opener, Niklas Hansson was sent to the showers for five minutes (plus game time) at a rather flattering score of 1-1 for the home side, while a 2 x 2-minute penalty against Andreas Eder for the only goal on Wednesday ended a Zug pressure phase – and ultimately decided the game. Sven Andrighetto’s first goal in the playoffs was scored 17 seconds after the penalty had expired, but was a direct consequence of it. The fact that no penalty was shown and the game continued for 38 seconds until the video review and was not restarted at the time of the penalised foul makes the anger at the referees understandable – the 38 seconds were sorely missed by the hosts, who were pressing for an equaliser at the end.
On the other hand, if you don’t score goals, you can’t win! On Wednesday, the Zug forwards failed to score from the best position against Simon Hrubec, statistically the best goalkeeper in the playoffs with a save percentage of 95.18%. Leonardo Genoni also made a brilliant save in the last game. With a save percentage of 93.57 %, the 7-time champion is above average despite two semi-final and three quarter-final defeats. Both goalkeepers were rightly honoured as their team’s best players in the last game and will also be at the centre of the action on Saturday.
