While the EVZ had no game on Friday evening, the ZSC Lions faced the Tigers away in Langnau. The Zurich side returned to winning ways in the ‘big cats’ duel’ against the Emmental side – for the first time after three defeats under new coach Marco Bayer, who took over from Marc Crawford, who stepped down at the end of the year, the current champions left the ice as winners. Jesper Frödén scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute.

Head coach Dan Tangnes’ squad has picked up seven points from four games since the start of the year and will be looking to string together two wins on Saturday for the first time since the beginning of December. However, the EVZ lost the two previous season duels against the Zurich side 4:5 away and 0:4 at home, and will now be looking for their first Z derby win on their second visit to the Swiss Life Arena after seven defeats in a row.