Defending champion Ambri-Piotta exited the Spengler Cup with a 5-0 loss to Frolunda Gothenburg on Friday afternoon. The Swedes will face HC Davos in the semifinals at 3.10pm tomorrow.

The 6,267 in attendance at the once again sold-out ice palace had to wait more than half of the game before the first goal celebration. Despite that, things were never boring. And it was mostly due to two exceptional goaltending performances and disciplined defensive work on both sides early on. Ambri’s goalie Janne Juvonen put his class on display on several occasions early on. And soon Frolunda’s Lars Johansson, too, had some opportunities to showcase himself. Juvonen was left no chance at all in the 32 nd minute, when two opponents appeared all alone in front of his net. Linus Oberg securely buried the feed from Mike Kunzle. Max Friberg took advantage of a rare Juvonen rebound to make it 2-0 on the powerplay with 42 seconds left in the second period.

That was the killer. In the third period, Ambri, having played three games in four days, lacked the strength to mount and energetic reaction and became vulnerable on defense. The now freely-playing Swedes mercilessly took advantage of that. Filip Hasa (44 th minute of play), Jere Innala 72 seconds later on the powerplay, and Noah Dower Nilsson (52 nd minute) increased the score to 5-0. Ambri was even denied a consolation goal. Jakob Lilja was stopped by the goalpost one second before the end of regulation.

While the Spengler Cup has come to an end for defending champion Ambri, Frolunda, participating in its first tournament, will battle HC Davos in the semifinals at 3.10pm on Saturday afternoon with a final berth on the line.

Quelle: Spengler Cup-Online Redaktion   Foto: Keystone