The change of coach at EV Zug has worked. In its first game under Benoît Groulx, Zug celebrates its first win of the new year with a 2-1 victory away from home in Kloten.
Dominik Kubalik in overtime and Jan Kovar, who has often been criticized recently, scored the golden goals for the Zug team. EVZ had previously lost all of its first ten competitive games in the new year. Away from home, the Central Swiss team had not even won since the end of October (and twelve games).
And the other new boss on the sidelines? Christian Dubé achieved a partial success with EHC Biel in Lausanne. The Seelanders wrestled a point from Lausanne, but lost 2:1 after overtime.
Leaders Davos and Genève-Servette Hockey Club were not in action on Friday evening. The other two teams in the top 4 of the table faced each other in Fribourg. Gottéron defeated Lugano 3-2 on penalties. Henrik Borgström was the only player to score in the penalty shootout.
In the bottom half of the table, Schlittschuhclub Bern is creeping up on the SCL Tigers. SCB celebrated their sixth away win in a row with a 2-0 victory over the Lakers in Rapperswil. Langnau, on the other hand, squandered a 2-0 lead against Ajoie and lost 3-2 at home to the Jura team after overtime. Julius Nättinen scored the last two goals for Ajoie.
Ambri-Piotta also lost 4-2 to the ZSC Lions, with ZSC scoring three goals in the final period to turn the game around.