DAVOS, Switzerland — David McIntyre scored the eventual winner while shorthanded in the third period and added an assist as Canada got past Mountfield HK 5-3 on Tuesday in its Spengler Cup opener.
Victor Bartley, Curtis Hamilton, Mason Raymond and P-A Parenteau, into an empty net, also had goals for the Canadians (1-0). Barry Brust made 31 saves for the win in net.
Andris Dzerins, Oskars Cibulskis and Lukas Vopelka found the back of the net for Mountfield (0-1). Patrik Rybar stopped 21 shots in defeat.
Canada is two-time defending champions at the Spengler Cup and are using the tournament as a final evaluation before deciding on its Olympic roster in January.
Vopelka opened the scoring for Mountfield midway through the first.
Canada tied the game at 1-1 after a shot from Bartley had a weird bounce off the boards and then deflected off Rybar’s skate and into the net.
Curtis Hamilton finished off a nice passing play by lifting the puck over Rybar’s blocker to put the Canadians in front 2-1 late in the first period.
Mountfield tied it 2-2 with a goal from Cibulskis, but then Mason Raymond put the Canadians back ahead with a shot from the point on the power play at 9:34.
McIntyre scored the winner at 13:05 of the third. Dzerins cut the deficit to one later in the period before Parenteau rounded out the attack.
Canada was 1 for 4 on the power play and Mountfield was scoreless on three opportunities.
The Canadians have a day off on Wednesday before facing host HC Davos in their final preliminary round game on Thursday.
[relatedlinks]
