Spengler Cup roundup: Prague, Ambri-Piotta to play for championship
The two strongest teams in group play will battle for the 2022 Spengler Cup.
Sparta Prague, a Czech-based team, and Switzerland’s Ambri-Piotta will battle it out for the title after winning their respective semifinal games 4-3 and 5-0, respectively.
Sparta Prague have won the event twice, back in 1962 and 1963. They returned in 2004 and lost to HC Davos, so they’ll keep their championship game streak alive. Ambri-Piotta is looking to win the tournament for the first time, having never won the National League title during their tenure in the top Swiss-based league.
The game will begin just after 6:00 AM ET on Saturday.
Prague’s win came in a comeback effort, trailing 3-0 to Orebro at one point. It all started early in the first after Orebro’s Mathias Brome scored off of a tremendous passing effort by Rodrigo Abols, with Brome’s shot hitting off Josef Korenar for the 1-0 goal.
At 22:23, Kristian Nakyva’s shot from the point hit off Korenar’s glove and in, capitalizing on the team’s first shot of the period. The second shot came seven minutes later, and Rasmus Rissanen was able to score a similar goal to make it 3-0 – the biggest lead Orebro had all tournament long.
It was the first time Prague had trailed all tournament long, and they seemed to take it personally. At 30:02, David Dvoracek scored after some significant pressure to make it 3-1, giving Prague some life. Four minutes later, Miroslav Forman made it a one-goal game, only to have Jan Buchtele tie it up three minutes later after a bad rebound by Jhonas Enroth.
Orebro needed to just survive the rest of the third and regroup and try again in the third. Instead, in the final minute of the first, David Tomasek took a pass from Erik Thorell and beat Enroth with a simple wrister, giving Prague its fourth goal in under 10 minutes. That ended up being the backbreaker as a late-period effort by Orebro fell short.
In Ambri-Piotta’s game against Davos, they scored first and never looked back. Brandon McMillan scored his third of the tournament at 3:03 from a Johnny Kneubuehler feed to make it 1-0. Just 12 minutes later, Dario Burgler converted on a two-man advantage to make it 2-0, putting Davos in a tough spot early.
Davos’ Andres Ambuhl came close to scoring on a penalty shot with 20 seconds left in the second. Instead, his attempt rang off the crossbar and out, keeping Janne Juvonen’s shutout alive. The lone goal in the second – a shorthanded effort by Filip Chlapik – essentially sealed the deal. Ambuhl gave the puck away in his own zone, allowing Ambuhl the chance to rush in and score all alone. Nando Eggenberger’s goal at 47:12 made it 4-0 – crushing Davos’ dreams. Inti Pestoni’s empty-netter with two minutes to go poured more salt in the wound as he made it 5-0 HCAP.