Both Mountfield HK and EV Zug tied one of their two Round of 16 games, so it was no surprise that the first game of their Quarter-Final in Hradec Králové was an even, tight-checking affair. Each team scored once and received solid netminding from Marek Mazanec and Luca Hollenstein, respectively.

The first period was evenly played, with the shots 10-10. Zug opened the scoring less than five minutes in when Raphael Díaz sent a long stretch pass to Dario Simion, who got in behind the Mountfield defence and beat Mazanec over the glove on the backhand. Mountfield’s best chance of the opening period came while shorthanded when Daniel Rákos was sent in alone on Hollenstein but shot wide.

There weren’t a lot of chances in the second period but Zug held a slight edge in play. Both Mazanec and Hollenstein kept everything out.

Mountfield came out hard in the third period and had some early chances. Hollenstein made a great save, but soon the home side drew a penalty and then tied the score on the power play. Matěj Chalupa’s rising shot hit Hollenstein in the chest but he couldn’t control the rebound. After a brief scramble, LGT Top Scorer Tomáš Vincour put in the rebound at 44:07.

Knowing they would have to play away next week, Mountfield seemed the more determined of the two teams to take the lead, but in the end, 1-1 was a fair result. These two teams are both in the Quarter-Finals for the first time and which one advances to the Semis will be decided next week in Zug.