At the beginning of the final third, Biel’s hope of equalizing the series returned. In the 43rd minute, the Seelanders made it 1-1 – and brought the hall to a boil in the meantime. A shot from Robin Grossman was deflected in the slot by Jérémie Bärtschi’s stick and Scott Harrington’s skate and found its way into the goal through the legs of ZSC goalie Simon Hrubec.
Zurich’s solid defense was finally cracked. But in the midst of the euphoria, Mike Künzle made a fatal mistake. He received a penalty in the 51st minute for tripping in the offensive zone. The ZSC Lions, who had used both outnumbered situations in Game 1, were allowed to play the power play for the first time that evening – and were immediately successful. Derek Grant, who played in the slot, passed it back between the legs to Rudolfs Balcers, who put the disc past Harri Säteri into the goal.
8 minutes after the equalizer, Zurich took the lead again. And just 2 turns of the pointer later they went one step further. After preliminary work by Denis Hollenstein, Jesper Fröden scored to make it 3-1. The Zealanders never recovered from this double blow. As on Saturday, they left the ice as losers, the Lions once again lived up to their role as favorites and made it 2-0 in the series. In particular, Biel has to blame itself for leaving all three power plays unused, while the Zurich team were able to keep their success rate in the majority at 100 percent.
Returnee Säteri cuts an unhappy figure
In the starting third, the Bielers had an increase in chances. However, the only goal was scored by the guests from Zurich. Shortly after overcoming a situation of being outnumbered, defender Dean Kukan ran into Biel’s third and took a slapshot. This slipped through the catching hand of goalie Säteri, who, in contrast to Game 1, was given preference over Joren van Pottelberghe this time, and into the net.
Legend:
Celebrate the interim 1-0
The ZSC Lions.
Keystone/Peter Schneider
Due to the defeat, Biel is already under pressure in Zurich on Wednesday. If the Zealanders also lose the third game, the ZSC Lions would already have their first match puck on Friday.