Flyers earn important win against Lions

In the 197th derby between the Flyers and the Lions the home team had the season lead with 2 wins against 1 where both teams meet 6 times during the regular season.

The Lions still were missing 7 players and today top scorer Robert Nilsson was missing due to "flu-like symptoms". Kloten on the other hand only missed captain Denis Hollenstein and long-term absentee Adam Hasani. Management had communicated that Mathis Olimb had signed for the remainder or the season, coming from the KHL's Jokerit.

But the Norwegian Center was still on the plane when both teams prepped up for the puck drop. Little over a minute was played when the first face-off in the Lions defensive zone was taken. Klotens Peter Guggisberg reacted fast, beating Niklas Schlegel a first time this evening. The Flyers continued playing a very offensive and quick hockey, creating two very good chances but Schlegel was prepared this time. Another great chance for the Flyers came up when Kolarik hit the left post, leaving Schlegel no chance. With 8 minutes left in the first period, Mike Künzle was benched, Matthias Bieber had 2 great chances but the execution on those was very unlucky and so the one-man advantage passed without another goal. Austen Matthews who whore the Top Scorer dress tonight was trying his best and at times it seemed just a matter of time until he would score the first goal of the game. His individual break-aways and the puck handling were most impressive.

The last two minutes the Flyers got a second chance for a powerplay when Siegenthaler was benched for slashing but this time the Lions were better prepared and allowed less shots this time.

3 minutes had passed in Kloten when the Flyers kept on pushing towards Schlegel, this time it was Michael Liniger with his 3rd goal of the season and the 2-0 lead in this fast-pacing game. The Lions made their own  lives difficult by producing penalties, this time it was U20 forward Denis Malgin who was benched but the boxplay didn't allow any further goals. The home team was on a run, pushing for the third goal but just like in the starting period, the execution failed. Compared to last week, the Flyers seemed like a completely transformed team and at the same time the Lions let themselves be pushed back into their own zone with every attack. The guests were lucky that the Flyers forwards didn't capitalize on all those chances, it could have easily been a 5-0 lead.

Steve Kellenberger was the first player for Kloten to take a seat on the bench for slashing with 5 minutes left in the middle period. the Lions were able to put some pressure on goalie Gerber but he kept his goal free of pucks during the powerplay. The middle section ended with a 2-0 lead for the home team.

For a long time it looked as is Martin Gerber would be able to get his shut-out but that plan took a turn when Roman Wick scored with a nice slapshot from the blue line and beat Gerber just above his right shoulder. The guests from Zurich had finally found a way to get into their opponents zone but Kloten still held up the pressure for the final 10 minutes. With the start of the final two minutes, the Lions removed their goalie for a 6th attacker and would have almost succeeded when one of the shots ended up hitting the goal post and on the other side the Flyers failed to score the empty netter. Vincent Praplan had a chance for a break away with less than a minute, skating past his opponent and scoring on the empty goal.

"We skated more, closed those gaps, we gave them less time, this makes a huge difference", assistant captain Matthias Bieber explained the difference to last week. "We had time to analyze our game, work on the details and when you put the puzzle pieces together it can work out like it did today", he continued. 

This win was vital for the play off race for the home team but it also showed that they are able to play a fast paced game and that's exactly what they'll need to do in tomorrows game against HC Davos. "We need to play the same way as we did today and try not to give them chances on rebounds."

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