- A 3-0 home win over SC Bern in Game 7 brings EV Zug its fifth semi-final qualification in a row in the National League.
- The decisive factor in the “Belle” is the effective superiority game of Central Switzerland. In the 19th minute, Dario Simion and Fabrice Herzog each scored with one more man on the ice.
- After winning the quarter-finals, the qualifying winners ZSC Lions await Dan Tangnes’ team.
- Gottéron and Lausanne contest the other semi-final – the Vaudois eliminated HC Davos.
Until Holy Saturday, SC Bern had never won a seventh playoff game on foreign ice. This disgraceful statistic remains. EV Zug didn’t allow itself to be duped a second time in the quarter-final showdown three days after losing its first match puck in Bern (0:3).
The Central Swiss responded in exactly the same way and, thanks to a 3-0 home win, made it to the semi-finals for the 5th time in a row in the even series. They will continue there from Easter Monday against the rested qualifying winners ZSC Lions, who have a “sweep” (against EHC Biel) in their legs instead of a “Belle”.
Simion strikes in the first power play
After a total of 35 goals had been scored in the previous 6 duels, only one goal tipped the scales in Match 7 for a long time. This was achieved in the 19th minute by Dario Simion, who scored his 5th playoff goal – number 4 in the power play.
Legend: First goalscorer wing Dario Simion brings his Zugers to winning ways before the end of the starting third. KEYSTONE/Urs Flueeler
The third penalty of the game was also the first outnumbered situation in the match. Yanick Sablatnig was sitting in the cooler for just 42 seconds when Simion beat Adam Reideborn from close range after a pass from top scorer Lino Martschini. After another goalie castling by the Bernese, the Swede was again preferred to Philip Wüthrich (despite his shutout on Wednesday).
Bern’s efforts in the second third were not fruitful
The “Mutzen” tried to react to the deficit in the middle third. They showed commitment and fired significantly more shots at Leonardo Genoni’s goal (16:6). But the really big element of surprise didn’t materialize. And when things got really tricky, the EVZ goalkeeper was able to parry without any problem.
In the heated final phase, the two teams largely neutralized each other for a long time. The home team tried more vehemently to take control of the game again. They certainly had great chances to increase the score. Because the people of the capital simply couldn’t find a recipe, the missed opportunities didn’t take their toll on coach Dan Tangnes’ team.
On the contrary: On the home straight, the Zug team found another gear and finally turned onto the winning road in the 52nd minute. Fabrice Herzog made it 2-0 again in the power play – this time only 16 seconds of start-up time were necessary. When Andreas Wingerli scored to make it 3-0, Reideborn had already left his goal. A little later, not just the keeper, but the entire SCB clocked out for this season.