EV Zug opened their sixth Champions Hockey League campaign with a home-ice win, but Danish champions Rungsted Seier Capital didn’t let them have an easy time of it. Midway through the second period, the teams were tied 2-2 before Zug finally pulled away.

When Johann Morant scored on a rebound just past the 11-minute mark and then, three minutes later, Jan Kovař scored on a breakaway, it looked like the rout was on. However, whatever words were spoken in the Rungsted dressing room during the first intermission worked. Just 54 seconds into the middle frame, Mario Lucia won a race to the puck at the Zug blueline, skated right in on goal and beat Leonardo Genoni between the legs. Ten minutes later, the tied it on the power play when Marcus Olsson redirected Mattias Persson’s pass from the corner. In between those goals, Thomas Lillie stood on his head, keeping Rungsted in the game.

It couldn’t last, however. Not long after Lillie absolutely robbed Yannick Zehnder with a pad save, Lino Martschini put Zug back into the lead when he one-timed a pass from Erik Thorell late in the second period. Early in the third, Yannick-Lennart Albrecht gave Zug a bit of breathing room when he picked the top corner on a wrist shot from the slot. Then with just under five minutes to play, Sven Senteler cashed in on the power play to round out the scoring.