Just as was the case last week in Switzerland, HC Pilsen and EV Zug enter their rematch in Western Bohemia secure in the knowledge that they will be participating in the Champions Hockey League Playoffs. The only thing to be decided is which team will win the group and which will finish second. To that end, Zug have the advantage following last week’s 5-2 home-ice win. In order to overtake their Swiss opponents, Pilsen will have to win this game by four goals, or by three as long as the score is 6-3 or higher.

This is a matchup of two of the higher-scoring teams in the CHL, with Pilsen averaging 4.4 goals per game and Zug 4.2, ranking them 2nd and 4th, respectively. Zug have the competition’s top-ranked power play at 40%, and Pilsen’s is second at 27.27%.

As he was last year in Pilsen’s run to the CHL Semi-Finals, Milan Gulaš has been the team’s offensive spark plug, leading the team with 24 points in 10 Extraliga games – including a three-point effort in the team’s most recent game – and and 10 points in the CHL – including a co-tournament-leading six goals. Since last Tuesday’s loss in Zug, they’ve split a pair of domestic games – losing 7-5 to Jaromír Jágr’s Rytíři Kladno and beating Dynamo Pardubice 5-3 – and currently rank fourth in the 14-team Extraliga.

It’s been scoring-by-committee for high-flying Zug, who have many dangerous offensive players. Leading the way domestically is Grégory Hofmann with 19 points in 11 games, and the team’s top scorer in the CHL is Erik Thorell, whose 10 points are tied for second in the competition. Since last Tuesday's win over Pilsen, they’ve won two straight National League games and are ranked fourth in the 12-team circuit.

This game will be somewhat of a homecoming for Zug forward Jan Kovář, who has played for Pilsen for several stretches in his career, including last season, when he was part of the team’s CHL success.