Third ZSC zero number in a row: three new players, but no points
Three new players but no points
The Zurich team lead for a long time in Zug, but leave central Switzerland empty-handed after a 2-3 defeat.
Once again, the ZSC Lions throw everything forward, they also replace goalie Simon Hrubec with a sixth field player. With all vehemence they try to equalize, a long-range shot by Alexandre Texier just misses the goal, a little later Denis Hollenstein misses the puck in a promising position. 20 seconds before the end, former Zuger Garrett Roe ended Zurich’s efforts with a stick.
The final third offered a lot of what makes the Z duel one of the most attractive advertisements in Swiss ice hockey. The turn from 1: 2 to 3: 2 by Jan Kovar and Grégory Hofmann flattered the Zugers despite an optical advantage. Zurich made good use of the few chances they had for a long time, led for more than half the game and had excellent opportunities to score more goals through Simon Bodenmann (48′) and Hollenstein (52′).
Marc Crawford last made a guest appearance with Zurich in Zug almost seven years ago, and it felt like a different hockey world. On that January 22, 2016, the Lions traveled to central Switzerland as favorites, as was practically always the case at the time – even after the 5:4 win for Zug, there wasn’t much to indicate the upswing that EVZ would experience in the years to come and who should make him the flagship organization in Swiss ice hockey.
The reinforcements from the GCK Lions
It is well known that the Canadian coach does not care much about past merits. If proof was needed that nothing has changed in recent years, a look at the match sheet would have provided it. The top scorer Lucas Wallmark is missing there due to illness, so together with Sven Andrighetto and Justin Azevedo three proven offensive players were absent. Crawford’s countermeasure: Season debuts for Jarno Kärki, Rihards Melnalksnis and Nauris Sejejs – the trio who normally play for the GCK Lions have 67 points this season.
The blood refreshment bore fruit early on: Already in the 3rd minute, Chris Baltisberger completed a combination worth seeing to make it 0:1, which Zug’s Samuel Kreis had made possible with a massive mistake. The second goal also came from Zug’s carelessness: Top scorer Grégory Hofmann committed a foul behind his own goal and Denis Hollenstein was there with a man to take advantage of a rebound from Leonardo Genoni. Jarno Kärki, the former captain of the Finnish top division club Pori, has the first assist in the top Swiss division since his return. In 2018/19 he played 16 games for Biel.
For Zug it was goals number 109 and 110 in this qualification, a frightening value. In the past regular season, Zug suffered a total of 127 minus goals – after 52 rounds. The defensive problems were recently joined by offensive harmlessness. The 1:2 by Peter Cehlarik, scored in a double numerical majority, was the first sense of achievement after 99:21 minutes. Especially the second penalty because of too many players on the ice was whistled very strongly.
The people of Zurich cannot grieve for long about the third zero number in the series, they already welcome leaders Geneva-Servette on Saturday. Meanwhile, Zug is visiting Biel – the dress rehearsal for the semi-final second leg in the Champions Hockey League against Tappara Tampere, in which the Swiss champions have to correct a 0-2 deficit.
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