Both Zug and the Lakers came away empty-handed on Friday evening. While Rapperswil failed to score any goals away at Kloten and conceded three, the EVZ took an early lead at home in the BOSSARD Arena through Daniel Vozenilek, but in the end Biel took three points from Zug despite a shot ratio of 25:44. “With that much pressure in the 1st period, you want more,” Head Coach Dan Tangnes made clear after the third home defeat. “We can’t act like everything is fine just because we have a lot of chances. Everyone has to be self-critical – from the coaches to the players.” 

With the defeat against Biel, the EVZ has slipped to 12th place in the table. With one game less, they are four points adrift of today’s opponents – and yet five places separate the two teams. Stefan Hedlund’s team has made a good start to the season, Rapperswil scored points in the first seven games of the season and won the first four in a row. Last Saturday, they suffered their first defeat against Lugano after 60 minutes, followed by their second clean sheet yesterday.

Dominik Schlumpf was unable to finish the game against Biel and had to go to the hospital for further examinations. He will not be in the lineup in Rapperswil. Lino Martschini’s participation is also questionable. The SCRJ Lakers, on the other hand, could see the return of several players: Malte Strömwall, Jacob Larsson, Gian-Marco Wetter, Ivars Punnenovs and Igor Jelovac.