Mountfield HK and EV Zug meet in a match-up between two teams that have plenty of Champions Hockey League experience but are making their first appearances in the Quarter-Finals. The first game will be played in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic this Tuesday before the scene shifts to Central Switzerland next week.

Mountfield finished second in Group H and then beat German champions Adler Mannheim in a low-scoring Round of 16 – 2-1, with goalie Marek Mazanec stopping 43 of 44 shots over 120 minutes of hockey. Zug, meanwhile, still haven’t lost in regulation time in this season’s CHL. They topped Group B and then beat Tappara Tampere in the Round of 16, earning a 3-3 tie in Finland and then winning 3-1 at home, thanks to two power-play goals from Gregory Hofmann.

Mountfield have been one of the top teams in the Czech Extraliga over the past few years but this season has been inconsistent at best – currently sitting eighth in the 14-team league. Since winning the CHL Round of 16, things have looked a bit better, with the team taking points in four of its last five games and winning its last two. Mazanec continues to be the team’s workhorse in goal, playing all but 42 minutes this season, but it’s been a lack of offence that’s plagued the team domestically – CHL Top Scorer Tomáš Vincour has only five points in the Extraliga, while Radek Smoleňák has 19 points in 25 games.

Similarly, Zug’s National League campaign in Switzerland hasn’t been anything to get excited about but is looking up recently, with four wins in their last five games. Their most recent outing was a 5-3 win in Lugano on Friday night. That being despite a rash of injuries that have plagued the team – CHL Top Scorer Erik Thorell and starting goalie Leonardo Genoni are currently sidelined, with 19-year-old Luca Hollenstein taking over the duties between the pipes. Zug will continue to look to Hofmann for goal-scoring – he has seven in eight CHL games and 16 in 23 CHL contests. Mountfield fans will be well familiar with Czech forward Jakub Kovář.