Mountfield HK’s third-period tallies were sandwiched between EV Zug’s first-period marker and their equaliser in the third that came with just under two minutes to play as the two sides head into the Return Game knotted at 2-2.

Zug showed why their 4.33 goals per game is ranked second early on when Lino Martschini found the back of the net through traffic ten minutes into the contest. They continued to hound Mountfield’s crease for the remainder of the first, but Henri Kiviaho stood his ground. If not for a defensive clinic in the second, the Swiss, however, might have seen their lead slip away as the Czechs were an offensive presence in the middle frame.

Fortunately, their defence, headlined by solid goaltending from Leonardo Genoni, kept the game level, but expect Mountfield to come out with that same intensity they displayed through the latter half of the fixture. With only 1.44 goals against per game, the Swiss are capable of keeping the puck out of their net and they’ll need to continue that effort on Tuesday. Home ice has also been kind to Zug where they’ve managed to score a combined 20 goals, including a 5-1 effort in their most recent homestand against Red Bull Munich.

The Czechs failed to take advantage of their home ice, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Mountfield fell behind early, but their second and third period efforts were industrious as they recorded twice as many shots on goal as the visitors at the end of 40 minutes, but were unable to solve Genoni. They would eventually break through when Lukáš Cingel netted the equaliser with five minutes left followed by Marek Zachar’s first of the competition.

Despite their inability to score, Mountfield’s third-ranked goals per game (4.22) should inspire confidence in their aptitude for finding the net more often in their Return Game. One area they need to address, however, is their special teams as the hosts went 0-for-2 on the powerplay and have the 19th ranked powerplay percentage (15.63%), having only scored five times on 32 attempts.