"Fight for more" day 1

Zürich 2 Davos 3

Defending champions Zürich Lions started with a defeat in the playoff quarterfinals. Marc Crawford's team was defeated by Davos 2-3 at home ice. So now, Davos have taken over home advantage.

The 36-year old Reto von Arx An was once again the star of this game, showing that when the playoffs coming he says present. The undisputed leader scored the 2-1 at minute 24 and delivered two assist. 

Davos defended very disciplined in neutral zone and the goalie Leonardo Genoni made a solid game and allowed his team to do fast transitions that put in danger repeatedly goalie Lukas Flüeler.

Bern 4 Geneve 0 

Bern started with a 4-0 home win against Geneve in game 1.

The Canadian Byron Ritchie had four points Bern. Jaroslav Bednar had two goals and one assist.. Ryan Gardner scored the 3-0, a shot into the empty net, and made  his 600th NLA-point. Bern goalie Marco Buehrer got his eighth shutout this season.

When Geneve doesn't play the physical type of game they are in trouble. For example the second period with 17-1 shots for home team is there to confirm the sentence. When three Geneva players were in the penalty box, for delayed game  the hosts took a 2-0 advantage to definitively close the game.  

Young rising star Joel Vermin not finish the game, that could be a huge loss for home team. 

Fribourg 4 Biel 2 

Qualifying winners Fribourg managed the start well the playoffs. The team of Hans Kossmann took a 3-0 lead in  the game at minute 30. But they didn't managed to control the game. Fribourg came back quick and almost tied the game. Marc-Antoine Pouliot scored the first for Biel (32th) and Peter Emanuel (37th) made the 2:3. But finally Simon Gamache a gave the first game to Fribourg with the game winning goal at minute 53.

Those sleep problems after the 3-0 against Biel for were not new for home team. Since the national team break Fribourg lost both against Servette (4:5 to 4:2) and Ambri (1:2) when the game seemed controlled  Against Kloten they managed to score 4-0 in only 8 minutes and finish that game in a difficult 4-3. 

Benjamin Conz made a great game with 36 saves. Top scorer Micflikier didn't finish the game after a missed check against Benjamin Plüss.  

Zug 2 Lugano 1 

Zug has taken a first step towards to qualifying to the semi-final.Those that were expecting a typical game of the playoffs, with a physical game by both teams, were disappointed. Lugano was the first team score by Vauclair (17th), but before the break Reto Suri restore the game after an assist by Josh Holden. 

If in the first period the two defenses were a bit left alone, that changed in the second period the two teams appeared more tight and controlled the game. The chances were few for both teams but it seemed that the second period would be scoreless but Lüthi (39 th) made the winning goal. Flückiger a few seconds later, came up big on Omark's shot, avoiding the third goal for Zug. But it wasn't enough as Lugano failed to tie it the third.

The absence of Rüfenacht was felt for, perhaps too much in Lugano team, partly because Steiner, in the first line, failed to give the same contribution. 

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