Zug gave themselves a morale boost on Wednesday with a 7-1 win against HC Ajoie. It was their highest win since the 9-2 victory against Lausanne HC a year ago. As a result, EVZ – on a par with SC Bern – has scored the most goals of all NL teams. And thanks to the three points, it has freed itself from the precarious table zone and gained a four-point lead over Friday’s opponents, HC Fribourg-Gottéron. The latter has not yet found its stride following the change of coach from Christian Dubé to Pat Edmond. This is especially true for away games: All four of their previous appearances away from home have been lost.

EVZ is keen to continue this series. Lino Martschini wants to help with this. He celebrated his comeback against the Ajoulots after recovering from pneumonia – and how: The 31-year-old scored the goal to make it 4-0, his 242nd goal for EVZ. He is now only 18 behind Heinz Jenni’s record. Lino Martschini has long been the best points scorer in Zug’s history. As of Wednesday, he has exactly 550 to his name. HC Fribourg-Gottéron’s all-time leading scorer is also still active: Julien Sprunger has recorded 674 points so far (335 goals, 339 assists).

Fribourg’s young forward Jan Dorthe is expected to return to the lineup on Friday after sitting out Wednesday’s Champions Hockey League match against the Straubing Tigers (3-2 win after overtime) with an injury. Defenseman Maximilian Streule made his comeback in that game after a long injury layoff. The EVZ is still missing Leonardo Genoni, Grégory Hofmann and Dominik Schlumpf.