Shoot out win puts Kloten back on track

Matthias Bieber of the Flyers and Maxime Macenauer for Biel each had a good chance to score in the opening minutes of the game in which the home team a slight advantage in puck possession. With less than 5 minutes left in the opening period Daniel Steiner scored on a break-away and beat Gerber above his shoulder pads after receiving a pass from Anthony Rouiller. Biel had a better shots on goal stat in the first period with 17 shots compared to 10 shots for the Flyers.

Biel started the period with a powerplay as James Sheppard was benched for boarding. But it was Kloten who dominated the box play, keeping the puck out of their zone and when Michael Liniger was taken off his skates on a break away he was given a penalty shot but couldn't beat Lukas Meili on his attempt in the third minute. In the 13th minute of the second period the Flyers had a chance to play with an advantage as Matthias Joggi could cool down 2 minutes for slashing but the powerplay formation wasn't able to produce the chances needed if you want to net the puck. And so the Flyers still trailed Biel for the first goal of the game. At the end of period two Biel had to take another penalty, this time it was Thomas Wellinger for obstruction but the Flyers were unable to score and so the 20 minutes ended scoreless.

In the starting minutes of the last period Kloten had to survive a critical situation when players of both teams where piled on each other in front of Gerbers goal but luckily the home team came out of of the situation as winner as Vincent Praplan scored on a pass from Robin Leone in the 45th minute. But Niklas Olausson gave his team the one goal lead with a nice wrap around just a minute later. Biels Nicholas Steiner was the next to take place on the bench for a minor penalty with 10 minutes left on the clock. With the 3rd attempt the Flyers capitalised on the man advantage as Guggisbergs pass from the right face-off circle deflected off Biebers stick and into the net with 8 minutes left. But just moments later it was Biel with their second power play opportunity and again it was Martin Gerber who kept his team in the game, stopping numerous pucks. Both teams played a nervous game in the final minutes with lost and misguided pucks and passes on both sides. It was incomprehensible why Gustafsson didn't play the puck forward in the last 30 seconds as he could have given his team at least a scoring chance but decided to play a slow, unmotivated pass alongside the boards as the third period ended 2-2.

The overtime didn't produce a winner and so the shoot-out had to decide on the outcome of the game. The Flyers won their only shoot-out at home against Lugano this season and they kept the upper hand as Martin Gerber didn't let one puck pass between the pipes this afternoon. Denis Hollenstein was the only successful scorer in the shootout. The National League A takes a one week break for the national team before the last 4 rounds are played in the regular season.

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