The Zug team finds themselves trailing 0:3 in the semifinal series against the winners of the regular season. 0:3 behind? Thoughts of the memorable final series of the 2021/22 season come to mind. The unleashed Central Swiss team secured four consecutive victories, clinching their third club title in history after 1998 and 2021. Four times they thwarted the Zurich team’s planned celebrations!
Is it a look back at the past or memories of the future? Back then, EV Zug had won the regular season and was at least evenly matched in the first three final losses. The score could have easily been 3:0 in their favor instead of 0:3. This time, the ZSC Lions are the high-flyers of the regular season and rightfully lead with three wins. With the forward line centered around the seven-time goal scorer Derek Grant and an NHL-tested defense led by Simon Hrubec, statistically the best playoff goalie (Save Percentage 94.85%), they have the deeper team and dominating players on the ice. ZSC’s top scorer is Sven Andrighetto (1 goal/9 assists/10 points), who scored his first playoff goal in the last game in Zug.
Nevertheless, Zug, who sorely miss an unpredictable sniper like the injured Grégory Hofmann, is capable of securing their first playoff win against Zurich. During their first 5:2 victory at the Swiss Life Arena, they were a confident team on par with their opponents and had the better chances until the unfortunate 5-minute penalty against the three-time playoff goal scorer Niklas Hansson. The first home game, ending in a bitter 0:1 defeat, could have easily gone in their favor as well. The first two losses came from hard and at times questionable penalties. Even during the 5:2 game on Saturday, it became close again after the fortunate power-play goal for Zurich. The last two goals for 4:2 and 5:2 were scored into the empty Zug net, which goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni, also outstanding like Simon Hrubec (Playoff Save Percentage: 93.33%), had vacated for a sixth field player.
