Quarter Finals
Game 1: Fribourg-Gotteron 5 - Alder Mannheim 2
Fribourg opened the scoring early, as Gregory Mauldin scored shorthanded while Bruno Gervais was in the box for a tripping penalty. For the first twenty minutes, it was mostly Fribourg, as they not only outshoot Mannheim, but they also had better quality chances. Felix Bruckmann was able to keep Mannheim in the game. A weak slashing penalty by Frank Mauer gave Fribourg the man advantage this time, and they capitalized on that early in the second as Benjamin Pluss snapped it past Bruckmann. Alder Mannheim showed a bit more life in the period, and would cut Fribourg's lead in half when Mauer tipped a shot past Benjamin Conz. Fribourg came back five minutes later, with Max Talbot putting one past Bruckmann. The third period began much like how the second ended, with Fribourg controlling the play. Mannheim got a break, as Marcel Platcha one-timed the puck past Conz to bring Mannheim within one. That was all for the German club though, as a Christian Dube powerplay goal extended the Fribourg lead to two again. Julien Sprunger added another insurance goal near the end. Fribourg-Gotteron moved onto the semi-finals and face team Canada.
Game 2: HC Davos 7 - Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5
Before the summary, check out this interview Paul Romanuk did with HC Davos head coach Arno del Curto.
I suspected this game would be filled with goals and this game did not disappoint. Josef Marha opened the scoring for HC Davos two minutes into the first period. It took eight seconds for Ufa to strike back, as Igor Musatov tied the game up at ones. Loui Eriksson scored on a semi-breakaway a minute later to regain the lead for the host squad. Joe Thornton extended the lead for HC Davos on what was essentially a 2-on-1. After six scoreless minutes (or eternity in this game) and multiple chances by both clubs, HC Davos got into some penalty trouble. A full two minutes of 5-on-3 did nothing for the Russian squad. Santeri Alatalo capitalized on a bad line change by Ufa, putting HC Davos up by 3. This spelled the end for Iiro Tarkki in Ufa's net, as Vadim Tarasov came in to replace him. He was welcomed early by a blitzing HC Davos attack. A Mustov high sticking penalty would lead to another HC Davos goal, as Petr "Not That Petr" Sykora blasted one that trickled through Tarasov. The second period started better for Ufa, as Alex Svitov scored on basically an open net. The Russian squad continued to control the play, and ended up with a powerplay goal to bring them within 2. That momentum was killed very soon after, as Patrick Kane scored the very next play. Kane added another goal two and a half minutes later, causing Ufa to go back to Tarkki in net. Penalties were the story for the last half of the second period, highlighted by a misconduct by Vitali Proshkin. The penalties continued into the third period, as Kirill Koltsov put Ufa down a man, then HC Davos was called for two penalties after Ufa killed theirs. This time, Ufa didn't disappoint on a 5-on-3. Antti Pihlstrom scored to (again) cut into HC Davos' lead. Igor Mirnov would add one more powerplay goal for Ufa, but that was all they could get. HC Davos was the better team on this night, and got to face HC Vitkovice Steel in the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
Game 1: Team Canada 5 - Fribourg-Gotteron 1
Penalties were the story of this game. The first period alone produced 14 PIMS combined. While Team Canada had some good chances, it wasn't until late in the period when Jason Spezza opened the scoring on a powerplay goal. The second period started differently, as Marc-Antoine Pouliot scored early in the period. Things got ugly a few minutes later, as Byron Ritchie was called for a hit to the head. Then Fribourg took two penalties. Team Canada got pegged for two penalties afterwards. The scoring continued during the last penalty kill for Canada. First, Matt Duchene snapped one past Cory Schneider on the penalty kill. Joel Kwaitkowski returned the favour and put Fribourg on the scoreboard 24 seconds later. The third period was pretty uneventful compared to the first two. After killing off a penalty early, Team Canada's lead increased when Carlo Colaiacovo blasted one from the point past Schneider. With the game basically out of reach, Fribourg swapped out Schneider for Conz in net. Conz only faced two shot, with one of the getting by to further Canada's lead. The win allowed Team Canada to move onto the final.
Game 2: HC Vitkovice Steel 4 - HC Davos 5
This was (literally) a shootout. Both teams had chances in the first period, but only Patrick Kane could find the back of the net, putting HC Davos in the lead.Different stroy in the seond period, as the floodgates opened. Lukas Klimek started the scoring sevem minutes into the period, and tied the game for Vitkovice. Tomas Kudelka scored on a delayed penalty to give Vitkovice its first (and only) lead of the game. That didn't last long, as Gregory Hofmann scored less than 40 seconds later. Dario Burgler would regain the lead for HC Davos late in the period. It didn't take as long for the scoring to begin in the third period. Roman Szturc batted a rebound mid-air to tie the game again. A few minutes later, after swapping great chances, Joe Thronton took a stretch pass and put it past Filip Sindelar. It took about eight minutes for Vitkovice to once again tie the game. Ondrej Roman snuck a pass from behind the net to Vladimir Svacina, who had no trouble burying it. Just like Kane started the scoring, Kane finished it. With 22 seconds left, Kane took a couple of strides inside the blueline and sniped a shot just past Sindelar's shoulder and under the crossbar. Vitkovice could not muster anything after that, as HC Davos won the game and moved onto the final.
Final
Team Canada 7 - HC Davos 2
Team Canada came out firing early, with Patrice Bergeron scoring less tha na minute into the game. A bad boarding penalty by Damien Brunner gave Canada the chance to extended their lead, and they did, as Derrick Walser blasted one by Leonardo Genoni to make it 2-0. Ryan Smyth added anpther one for Canada midway through the first period. HC Davos finally got on the board against Canada late in the period. A Dario Burgler slapshot found its way past Devan Dubnyk to give HC Davos it's first goal against Canada in two games. Ryan Smyth scored in the early going of the second period. John Tavares added another one for Canada on a powerplay goal midway though the period. The was the end for Genoni, as Reto Berra was put in net for HC Davos. Berra played well for the rest of the period. IT didn't take long for him to be beat in the third period though, as it took 24 seconds for Jason Spezza to beat him. John Tavares would score Canada's last goal on a shorthanded breakaway miodway though the third period. HC Davos would add one late in the period, as Rafael Diaz put it over Dubnyk's glove in the top corner. Canada wins the Spengler Cup for the 12 time, and first since 2007.
This tournament will be known for three things:
1) How many (locked out) NHLers participated.
2) The parity. Every team recorded a win and lost during the group stage.
3) And probably the best ref jersey ever:
No comments:
Post a Comment