Canada and Lugano meet for a lunch date at Spengler Cup

Dinamo Minsk - Team Canada 2-3

Team Canada will get a chance to win back to back Spengler Cup titles for the first time since 2003 when the beat HC Davos. But first they had to overcome Dinamo Minsk who had beaten the Maple Leafs 7-4 in the preliminary round. Minsk was off to a bad start when Marc-Antoine Pouliot beat Ben Scrivens a first time in the 8th minute. The Dinamo goalie was the centre of attention in the 13th minute when he was assessed with a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. It took the Canadians little more than a minute on the powerplay and Chris DiDomenico who normally scores for the SCL Tigers, beat Scrivens although the shot was deflected by a Minsk player.

At the beginning of the second, Minsk got the chance to play with a two-man advantage when Mark Flood and Cory Emmerton took a break in the coolbox. Andrei Stepanov booked the first goal for his team, assisted by Pettersson. When Charles Genoway scored with six minutes left in the game, most fans thought that this game was decided but Shaun Heska's cross-check minor gave Matt Ellison the chance to capitalize on the powerplay. Coach Craig Woodcroft exchanged Scrivens for a 6th field player but in the end, the Canadians remained cool and settled the game with a win.

HC Lugano - HC Davos 4-0

In the end, the Swiss duell between Lugano and Davos was a one-sided story. Davos who had played a tough game against Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg yesterday (and 4 games in 4 days) seemed tired and not quite up to the challenge against a well rested team from Ticino. In addition, Davos had to rest their complementary players which didn't make things easier. Linus Klasen in the first period, Dario Bürgler in the 32nd minute and Alessandro Chiesa in the 36th minute made it clear that Lugano wasn't willing to hand out presents to the host. Alessio Bertaggia scored the 4th and last goal of the game on a solo, giving Elvis Merzlikins a well deserved shutout. The game was overshadowed by check to the head to Gregory Sciaroni in the second period. Bertaggia wasn't handed out any penalty which most of the 6'300 spectators did not understand. Sciaroni was sent to the hospital immediately where a first diagnosis showed symptoms of a concussion.

Team Canada will have a slight advantage as they had a few more hours of rest before both teams meet tomorrow at 12 am CET.

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