ZSC Lions gambled away the 3-0 lead in Biel in an amateurish way

On Wednesday, the ZSC Lions lost 4:5 to EHC Biel at the start of the quarter-final series. They were puzzling in many ways, and as a collective they seemed oddly nervous. That was true of the players, who made amazing mistakes. And also for the coach Rikard Grönborg, who pushed his best forces so hard at the first opportunity that it raised questions: The top strikers Denis Malgin and Sven Andrighetto received more than 22 minutes of ice time.

Roe at ZSC superfluous – the Bieler prevail despite prominent absences

In Biel, too, the ZSC seemed agitated at first. Grönborg switched his team slightly, sacrificing Canadian striker Joel Quenneville in favor of Finnish defender Tommi Kivisto. The American Garrett Roe, one of the most expensive professionals in the league and under contract with ZSC until 2023, was listed as a surplus for the second time in a row.

Grönborg intended to stabilize his team after Wednesday’s five goals conceded. The project worked passably for 40 minutes, although it helped that Biel again had to do without number 1 goalie Joren Van Pottelberghe, scorer Damien Brunner (both injured), the not unimportant role player Tino Kessler and the sick center Luca Cunti . In this constellation, Biel actually lacks the depth of the squad to be able to compete with the luxury team of the ZSC.

Zurich distanced their opponent with three goals in the middle third, Biel’s Russian goalkeeper Dimitri Schikin did not make the best impression in all situations. The omnipresent top scorer Denis Malgin opened the scoring, who was released so wonderfully in the 22nd minute on the power play that he was able to score the 1-0 without any problems. Eleven minutes and two goals from Justin Sigrist outnumbered and Denis Hollenstein later, the game seemed decided – 3:0.

But even a three-goal lead wasn’t enough for the ZSC to spend a reasonably carefree evening, which shows how fragile the luck of this team is right now. After 43 minutes, Biel was only one goal behind and put Zurich under a lot of pressure. Defensively, some of the newly formed ZSC lines seemed very vulnerable. Goalkeeper Jakub Kovar, by far the best ZSC player on Friday, bravely defended himself against the equalizer, which should have been repeated several times because Biel now literally rolled over the opponent; sometimes chaotic conditions prevailed in the Zurich defense zone.

Frustration foul by Marti – does it have an aftermath?

35 seconds before the end, Kovar had to admit defeat after all, to the celebrated Biel equalizer in the Tissot Arena, which was not sold out. ZSC defender Christian Marti reacted to the 3:3 with a brutal frustration foul, which would not come as a surprise if it had an aftermath: Marti double-handed Biel striker Mike Künzle into the goal.

Biel was not able to use the power play, but in the 64th minute the Finnish world champion and Olympic champion Toni Rajala decided the game: After a shot from the post by Zurich’s Simon Bodenmann, Rajala completed a counterattack to make it 4:3. It was a painful stab in the ZSC heart, a team that seems to get out of step at the wrong time. And you have to ask yourself how that is possible: to gamble away such a comfortable margin against this opponent.

The coach Rikard Grönborg surprised with an unusual analysis, he spoke of “a step forward”, at least as far as the fighting spirit is concerned. He also said: “Bodenmann was clearly fouled, he just had to hold out the stick, then we would have won.” And added that it was unclear to him how this could be overlooked. “We just need a bit more luck. The games are so close that details decide,” said the Swede.

Brunner and Cunti, two of the best, most creative Swiss strikers in the league, should be back in action at the Hallenstadion on Sunday evening; Brunner didn’t miss much for his comeback on Friday. The forthcoming injection of Bieler talent doesn’t make the task any easier for the ZSC after this disillusioning play-off opener.

Championship National League. Playoffs (best of 7). Quarterfinals. Summary after Friday’s games:

Zug (1st) – Lugano (9th) 1-0. – Zug 2-1 Lugano (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0) aet

Fribourg-Gottéron (2nd) – Lausanne (7th) 1-0. – Fribourg-Gottéron – Lausanne 2-0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0).

ZSC Lions (3rd) – Biel (6th) 0:2. – ZSC Lions – Biel 4:5 (1:0, 1:3, 2:2). Biel – ZSC Lions 4: 3 (0: 0, 1: 3, 2: 0, 1: 0) a.e.t.

Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (4th) – Davos (5th) 1-0. – Rapperswil-Jona Lakers – Davos 4: 3 (0: 1, 3: 0, 1: 2).