Rapperswil-Jona vs Zug - Game 2

Zug escapes the trap

Zug was certainly relieved to hear the horn at the end of 60 intense minutes of hockey Tuesday night. The best team in the league came to avoid a trap… and had to set one themselves instead.

The first 10 minutes were all Zug, and they were close to reach 1 Expected Goal (xG) when Rappi woke up. Then the real fight begun. If you look at the Game flow at the bottom left of the report below, you will see how close the game was all along. Andrew Rowe opening the score was as deserved as it could be, Rappi magically reaching 1 xG at the same time he scored. But Hofmann and Shore goals within the same minutes were a dagger in the heart for the home team, that suddenly had to chase the score against the best defense in the league. It opened the game even more. Every time a team generated a good chances, the other one answered. And the last 10 minutes were pretty intense for Zug in their defensive zone.

Rappi ends with 4.53xG (which feels like the sum of the whole Geneva Zürich series…) to 3.63xG for Zug.

Only three times this season Zug had allowed over 4 xG in a game. And no more than 4.23xG against Biel on November 10. What Rappi did Tuesday was a formidable effort.

At 5v5, they outshot Zug 50 to 30, and 2.90xG to 2.66. However, Zug capitalized on their power play to score twice out of 0.98xG.

The shots map are mind blowing. The amount of high-danger chances (12 to 11) shows the amount of danger created by both teams tonight. Like the 8 rebounds (6-2 for Rappi). Remember that it took 76 minutes to see one in Zurich-Geneva… Rappi also created a lot through rushes and both teams used the Royal-Road, but only Zug managed to score on those plays.

The difference maker tonight was Leonardo Genoni. With 2.33 goals saved above expectations, that win could technically be qualified as a “steal”, as he saved more than the difference on the scoreboard. We won’t go this far but he managed to maintain a 71% Shot control and only bowed to 2 high-danger chances.

Nyffeler on the other hand did his best, but couldn’t stop Hofmann and run out of miracle against that play opening the net for Martschini.

The other leaders in Rappi did their best too. Egli-Profico and the Schweri-Cervenka-Clark line were a head above the rest of the team, and the only players above 50% of both Corsi or Expected Goals.

Cervenka also created 0.83xG, Egli 0.66, Rowe 0.64, Clark 0.55. There were no passengers among that group.

For Zug, leaders showed up as well. Hofmann had 8 shots for 0.80xG. Abdelkader continues to improve (0.64xG tonight) his offensive game.

In the series presentation, we also pointed out how Rappi 4th line was a real weakness to exploit. Tonight, Zug’s 4th line (Bachofer-Senteler-Leuenberger) offered over 11 precious minutes where the puck was in Rappi’s end.

The next task will be to finish the job on Thursday.