Eisbaren Berlin have a four-goal lead after shutting out EV Zug at home in the opening leg of the Round of 32. Read more in Gamecentre.

by Vojtech Balon

Last year Eisbaren Berlin made the CHL's Round of 16 thanks after starting off with a Petri Vehanen shutout at home. They're off to a good start of repeating that, after beating EV Zug 4-0 at Mercedez Benz Arena. 

"We are very pleased with the result, but Zug has a good, skilled team," said Berlin's Jamie MacQueen, who had a goal and an assist. "Next time, we want to play better defensively, but all in all it was a good game." 

Die Eisbaren started to push the pace early in the game. Captain Andre Rankel's chance didn't end up in the back of the net but a few minutes later, Berlin's Cramo Top Scorer Nicholas Petersen broke the deadlock to make it 1-0. Fifteen minutes into the game, Carl Klingberg had a golden opportunity to tie things up, but his turnaround attempt, which was saved by defenceman Micki Dupont on the goal line, would be ruled off for interference anyway.

After the break, the pace slowed down a bit and Zug started creating more opportunities. Early in the second, Reto Suri had a chance to tie things up, but couldn't capitalize on his breakaway and the Swiss side was punished just a few minutes later when Barry Tallackson made it 2-0. After that, Petri Vehanen had very little work to do and the home fans were sent into ecstasy once again before the second buzzer as Rankel increased the goal difference to three with his second of the game.

Early in the third period, the team representing the German capital city pulled the trigger once again as MacQueen sent home the rebound of Darin Olver's deflected shot that was saved by Tobias Stephan. Die Eisbaren then controlled their comfortable lead up until the final buzzer. 

"We spent too much time killing penalties," said Zug coach Harold Kreis. "We spent too much time in the box and didn't play tough enough. We'll try to play 5 on 5 for 60 minutes next time. The series isn't over yet."