DAVOS, Switzerland — Alexandre Giroux and Chris DiDomenico scored as Canada shut out HC Davos 2-0 at Vaillant Arena on Monday to reach the semifinals at the Spengler Cup.
Giroux opened the scoring at 5:35 of the second period and DiDomenico padded the lead at 11:27. Jeff Glass made 21 saves for the shutout.
"I was really happy to get the win with this bunch of great guys and for this country," said Glass. "The team played outstanding in front of me. Our team commitment is great to be part of."
Leonardo Genoni stopped 40 of 42 shots for the host side.
The game was a clean affair, with the teams combining for five minor penalties.
"Our discipline was the key to the game," head coach Guy Boucher said. "We didn’t allow a highly offensive team to get many scoring chances. Because of our commitment to team play, we were able to create lots of scoring chances that we needed against a goalie that always stands on his head."
Canada, which opened the tournament on Boxing Day with a 2-1 win over Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, improved to 2-0. HC Davos fell to 0-2 and will have to play a quarter-final against Jokerit Helsinki on Tuesday.
The Canadians get a day off before their semifinal on Wednesday. HC Lugano earned the other direct berth into the semifinals.
Tuesday’s other quarter-final game pits Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg against Adler Mannheim. The semifinal winners will play in the championship game on Thursday.
Giroux and DiDomenico are two of the three returning Canadian players from last year’s tournament. The other is goaltender Drew MacIntyre.
Canada lost in the semifinals last year to eventual champion Geneve-Servette. Canada hasn’t won the Spengler Cup since 2012.