- At the start of the 96th Spengler Cup, Team Canada won the Cattini group against hosts Davos 6-2.
- The Canadians scored 2 of the 6 goals when they were outnumbered.
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In the other game on the opening day, Dynamo Pardubice defeated HC Fribourg-Gottéron 3-2 after a penalty shootout.
Just a year ago, HC Davos staged a big comeback in the final third of the Spengler Cup classic against Team Canada and won 4-3 after being 3-1 down. This year, coach Josh Holden’s team was down 2:5 before the third section. The audience in the sold-out Davos ice stadium did not see a similarly spectacular comeback.
The HCD initially did not lack opportunities to make the game exciting again, for example when Andres Ambühl had a counterattack opportunity. However, the hosts’ performance that evening was simply not convincing enough to overcome their low form in the league with 4 defeats in a row and score points against the Canadians.
The “Maple Leaves” earned their opening victory with physical superiority, aggressive forechecking and strong outnumbered play. The Canadians scored 2 of the 6 goals with a shorthander. This also applies to the last goal of the game: Tanner Fritz took the wind out of the HCD’s sails with a 6-2 win in the 52nd minute – and thus ensured the end point of this largely one-sided game.
2-1 lead after the starting third
The first Canadian goal of the evening was also scored by a minority. Jonathan Hazen stole the puck from Calle Andersson on the blue line and confidently converted the score to 1-1 in front of HCD goalie Sandro Aeschlimann in the 11th minute. Just two minutes earlier, Ajoie’s backup player Oula Palve had given the HCD the lead with a direct shot.
Another 2 minutes later things got even worse for the host. Lugano attacker Daniel Carr followed up with Aeschlimann after a rebound and made it 2-1 for the Canadians. It stayed that way until the first break.
Davos equalizes, Canada reacts immediately
After returning from the cabin, a plan was apparent at Davos. The hosts wanted to take on the Canadians’ game, were similarly aggressive when forechecking – and were promptly successful. Brendan Lemieux took a penalty in the 30th minute. But before this could even be said, the Davos team equalized. Filip Zadina scored 2-2 after a sharp cross pass from Adam Tambellini.
However, it only lasted 69 seconds. In the 31st minute the Canadians were able to celebrate again. HCD goalie Aeschlimann was unable to control the disc that was exposed in front of his own goal. Charles Hudon reacted faster than the Davos defenders and pushed Team Canada back into the lead.
And this time it wasn’t the next reaction from the opposition, but the first two-goal lead of the evening. In the 33rd minute, Logan Shaw directed Mac Hollowell’s shot into the goal to make it 4-2, before Hudon even made it 5-2 with his second goal of the game just before the end of the period.
This is how it continues
On Friday, the last two teams, Kärpät Oulu (FIN) and the Straubing Tigers (GER), will take part in the tournament. The Finnish representative will face Fribourg-Gottéron in the afternoon from 3:10 p.m., the Germans will face Davos in the evening from 8:15 p.m. You can see both games live on SRF.
