Team Canada is headed in the right direction to defend their title at the 92nd Spengler Cup. The Canadians won their game against the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers from Nürnberg 6-2 on Friday evening.

The suspense only lasted about a period long for the 6,300 spectators in the sold-out Vaillant Arena. Dante Fabbro – a NHL first-round draft of the Nashville Predators -  hammered the puck into the opponents net in just 161 seconds to take the lead for the Canadians. The Germans kept up the pace in the first period and just 52 seconds into the second period, Nuremberg’s Captain Patrick Reimer shot the equalizing goal in a power play situation.

This 1-1 score really seemed to shake up Team Canada. The Canadians, who already demonstrated their straightforward offensive play, increased their intensity, single-mindedness and especially their precision. This was reflected not only in the shots-on-goal statistic 21-4 (!) in the second period alone, but also their dominance as shown in the result. Daniel Winnik shot a goal just 3 minutes after the Nurembergers’ equalizer. Between the 32nd and 38th minute, Andrew Ebbett, Zac Dalpe and Dion Knelsen increased the lead to 5-1 – resulting in the early decision of the game.

The Canadians have justified their role as the favorite to win the cup with this 6-2 victory. Even with this loss, the Ice Tigers still have a chance to qualify for the semi-finals. To achieve this, they must win against Metallurg Magnitogorsk on Saturday afternoon.

Team Canada – Nürnberg Ice Tigers 6-2 (1-0, 4-1, 1-1)

Vaillant Arena, Davos – 6,300 spectators (sold-out) – REF Watson/Wiegand (CAN/SUI), Progin/Wüst.

Scoring: 3. Fabbro (Moore, Conrad) 1-0. 21. (20:52) Reimer (Pföderl, Dupuis/ excluding DiDomenico) 1-1. 25. Winnik (Wiercioch, Mitchell) 2-1. 32. Ebbett (D'Agostini, DiDomenico) 3-1. 34. Dalpe (Winnik) 4-1. 38. Knelsen (Lapierre, Moore) 5-1. 43. Fabbro (Lapierre) 6-1. 58. Mieszkowski(Brown) 6-2.

Penalties: 5 times 2 minutes against Team Canada, 4 times 2 minutes against Nuremberg Ice Tigers.

Team Canada: Fucale; Quincey, Fabbro; Noreau, Despres; Wiercioch, Bieksa; Curran; DiDomenico, D'Agostini, Ebbett; Lapierre, Moore, Conrad; Winnik, Cracknell, Mitchell; Boychuk, Dalpe, Knelsen; Emmerton.

Nürnberg Ice Tigers: Jenike; Mebus, Lalonde; Aronson, Festerling; Gilbert, Newton; Bender, Jurcina; Mieszkowski, Acton, Brown; Lerg, Bast, Buck; Dupuis, Ness, Segal; Pföderl, Weiss, Reimer.