HC Ambri-Piotta defeated KalPa Kuopio 5-3 at the Spengler Cup in Davos on Wednesday afternoon. The game was decided early in the third period. To win their group, the Ticinesi now rely on the Finns’ help when they face Dynamo Pardubice.

Defending champion Ambri-Piotta and KalPa, the Spengler Cup winner in 2018, showed the 6,267 in attendance in the once again sold-out stadium the fastest opening period in the Spengler Cup’s 100-year history. The first stoppage in play came 275 seconds in, the second only after 12:14 minutes of play. Both teams appealed not only with their fluid style of play but with tempo, too. The Swiss registered more shots on net, the young Finns displayed great efficiency in their quick counterattacks. KalPa’s head coach Petri Karjalainen was forced to watch the game on TV from his hotel room due to illness. In his place, assistant coach Sami Tervonen coached the team from behind the bench.

Alex Formenton put Ambri ahead with his 3^rd marker of the tournament (19^th minute). He banked a cheeky shot off KalPa goaltender Stefanos Lekkas that trickled over the goal line. To start the second period, Benjamin Korhonen scored on a shorthanded breakaway to tie it up at 1-1. Yet, while the minor penalty against Kaspar Simontaival was still running, Jakob Lilja put Ambri ahead again (24^th minute). In the 37^th minute, the Finns once again made a lightning-fast break from their stranglehold. On the counterattack, Mathias Kantner buried a pass from Aleksi Klemetti to make it 2-2. The Swiss sealed their victory at the start of the final period when Tim Heed converted on a penalty shot (42^nd minute) and Peter Mueller scored on the powerplay (45^th minute). Korhonen cut the lead in half to ignite a spectacular final phase of the game (53^rd minute). Laurent Dauphin then finalized the score with an empty-netter.

With its 5-3 win, Ambri-Piotta remained in the hunt for the group stage win. For that to happen however, KalPa must beat Dynamo Pardubice on Thursday afternoon.

Quelle: Spengler Cup-Online Redaktion   Foto: Keystone