Legend:
With one foot in the playoff semi-finals
The ZSC Lions.
Marc Schumacher/freshfocus
- The ZSC Lions defeated EHC Biel in the playoff quarter-finals at home 3:2 nV and made it 3:0 in the series.
- Yannick Zehnder scores the golden goal in the 8th minute of the 2nd extra time.
- Denis Hollenstein saves the Lions in overtime 51 seconds before the end of regular time.
- In the other game on Wednesday evening, Lugano won in Freiburg.
The ZSC Lions have one foot in the playoff semi-finals. Coach Marc Crawford’s team also won the third game in the quarter-final series against EHC Biel.
Unlike the first two duels, this time it went into extra time. Only after 87:03 grueling minutes was it over in the Swiss Life Arena.
After a face-off, Patrick Geering took heart. Yannick Zehnder deflected his shot with his shovel to make it 3-2. The hit was still checked because Zehnder’s stick was set quite high, but the hit counted.
Late Zurich rescue in overtime
In regular time, EHC Biel had a 2-1 lead until 51 seconds before the end. The people of Zurich threw everything forward again; Coach Crawford replaced goalie Simon Hrubec with a sixth field player.
The risk paid off: Denis Hollenstein deflected a shot from Yannick Weber with his knee to make it 2-2. Seconds earlier, the disc almost slid into the empty Lions’ box to make it 1:3 before Denis Malgin shoveled it away at the last moment.
Biel sets the example, ZSC follows suit
Biel had previously taken the lead twice. In the starting third, ZSC goalie Hrubec unfortunately pushed a shot from Biel’s Viktor Lööv over his own goal line. Zurich’s answer came in the middle period, in which both teams created numerous top chances. Weber shot from the blue line, Balcers cleverly blocked Harri Säteri’s view – 1:1 (35th).
The pace remained high in the final third, but both teams tried to make as few mistakes as possible. Extra time was already lurking when Damien Brunner put his colors in front again in the 55th minute.
But the people of Zurich didn’t allow themselves to be disturbed, they kept their cool even in overtime – and pushed the goal wide open to the semi-finals.