ZSC Lions Zurich have the advantage heading into the second leg of their Quarter-Final against Bílí Tygři Liberec, holding a one-goal advantage with the game on home ice.

“I think we played a pretty good road game and we won 1-0, so we’re pretty satisfied with that,” said Zurich forward and CHL scoring leader Fredrik Pettersson, who assisted on the lone goal of the first game. “It’s far from over, though. It’s a six-period game and it’s gonna be another tough one at home.”

This is not unfamiliar territory for Liberec, however. In the Round of 16, they went into Gothenburg with a one-goal disadvantage and beat the Frölunda Indians by a goal to win the second game, then won the aggregate score on an overtime goal by MichalBulíř to knock out the two-time defending European champions. But will lightning strike twice in the same place?

“We’re not planning it this way, to always be down a goal after our home game,” Liberec head coach Filip Pešan joked after last Tuesday’s loss. “We mostly played a pretty good game defensively, didn’t make many mistakes, and managed to get a few chances to score but their goalie was good. Next time, we definitely need to score at least twice if we want to go forward.”

It’s been a tough season for Liberec and it hasn’t gotten any better since Tuesday’s first leg, with domestic defeats in Zlín and Olomouc over the weekend leaving the team on a three-game slide overall heading into the game in Zurich. The week was no better for the Lions, who lost in Biel on Friday and then were belted 5-1 on home ice by Kloten on Saturday. That drops them to fourth place in the Swiss National League.