Canada still hasn’t found its way to victory at the Spengler Cup, losing 2-1 to HC Davos in its second game of the preliminary round.
With this second setback in as many games, Travis Green’s men are in last place in the Cattini group, behind HC Davos and HC Sparta Prague.
They will have to go through the quarter-finals, with their next meeting scheduled for Thursday against the team that will finish second in the Torriani group.
The Canadian outfit got off to a bad start in their second game of the tournament, conceding two quick goals in the first two minutes of play. Andrew Rowe and Leon Bristedt were the scorers who put Davos in charge at the start of the first period.
At the end of the second period, Brett Connolly cut the deficit in half, but it wasn’t enough for Canada, who couldn’t make the comeback in the third period.
“I found that collectively we played better and with a lot more cohesion, and that’s what I was hoping for,” noted Canadian team head coach Travis Green.
“It’s hard, we were victims of two unlucky jumps at the start of the game. I salute the work of our team, no one gave up. I really think we were better than in the last game tonight when we were up against a very good team,” he added.
Connor Hughes made 22 saves in front of the Canadian goal, while his opponent Sandra Aeschlimann was tested on 29 occasions. He gave in once.
The Canadians are off to a bad start in defending their title, having also suffered a loss in their first game, against Prague, on Monday.
Canada won the last edition of the Spengler Cup in 2019. The competition, which is played in Davos, Switzerland, has been canceled for the past two years.
“Now we have to win three games (in a row), so if our group can win the next game, it will be a big blow for confidence,” said Brett Connolly. With a bit of luck, we’ll get there. »
“It won’t be easy, but with our system and our style of play, everyone will have to excel in the next three games. Our group is convinced that we can achieve this and we will give everything we have. »