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Zurich Lions trounce Lugano to level series

Lugano's Misko Antisin (right) struggles for the puck with Zurich Lions' Patrick Lebeau (left) Keystone

The Zurich Lions have beaten rivals Lugano 3-0 in the second match of the best- of-seven ice hockey playoff finals. Lugano won their first home match by an identical scoreline on Saturday. The latest result means Larry Huras's men have now levelled the series 1-1 and put Lugano back on the offensive.

The 11,500-strong crowd in Zurich saw little to get excited about. The second game of the series was disappointing right from the outset, as both sides opted for a defensive approach which meant the game never really came alive.

It was nearly half an hour before the first goal of the match, which came courtesy of Patrick Lebeau. With the score at 1-0, Lugano squandered the chance to retaliate and ended up giving away a number of penalties.

Lugano’s Peter Andersson even wounded the Lions’ Reto Stirnimann in the face with his stick and was given a disciplinary warning.

The Lions had clearly learnt their lesson after the first match of the series and didn’t leave any space for their adversaries to attack, while the Ticinese team have some serious thinking to do after they failed to set up a single chance of a goal.

Two further goals in the 59th and 60th minutes sealed the Lions’ victory and ensured the result of the playoff series remains wide open.

Jim Koleff’s players have only a couple of days to rethink their game, before the third match of the series, which is scheduled for Thursday night in Lugano.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR