Petr Taticek scored twice against Vitkovice

HC Davos has had a successful start into the 2011 Spengler Cup: The host team has overpowered HC Vitkovice, which hasn’t won a single point yet, with 2:1. Although the Czech team lost tonight, key player in a very exciting game was still a player from the Czech Republic: double goal scorer Petr Taticek.

Thanks to Leonardo Genoni‘s big save against Australian youngster Nathan Walker just ten seconds before the end of the game, HC Davos has the opportunity to directly qualify for the semi-final in its game against 18-time Spengler Cup finalist Team Canada on Wednesday evening.

With a second win, the Swiss champion would also get the special bonus of an additional day off – an advantage that shouldn’t be underestimated during such a tiring exhibition-style tournament.

Taticek’s Two Goals

It was one of the four Czech players on the HC Davos squad who made the difference tonight and decided the game against the team from his home country within just 93 seconds. Forward Petr Taticek scored the two Davos goals of the evening (39./40.), after he had previously given away one first-class opportunity after the other. But shortly before the end of the second period, he made amends for his negligence and inefficiency and finally put the puck into the net.

In both cases, he benefitted from very precise assists by HC Davos’s leading player Reto von Arx – and Taticek scored his second goal when Collenberg was in the penalty box and he put the score to 2:1.

Too Many Wasted Opportunities

Taticek put the Swiss champion on the right track with his two wrist shots and saved HC Davos from a tricky situation into which the team had got itself into because it had wasted too many great opportunities.

For one, the HC Davos defenders granted Pohl too much freedom on one of the Czechs’ rare counterattacks so that he was able to beat Genoni and put Vitkovice in front (25.). Secondly, the team from the Swiss national league was unbelievably inefficient during big parts of the game.

Excitement Until the Final Whistle

After three games with a lot of goals (25), 6,500 spectators witnessed a very exciting and fascinating game in the stadium in Davos. But the tight score only tells half the truth: At times, the players showed top-class hockey with plenty of clever moves and spectacular and speedy breakaways from one end of the rink to the other. The game was way more interesting to watch than the too one-sided games before it.

Before the last group games, everything is clear in the Torriani Group: Dinamo Riga can hardly be denied the group win anymore. They could even afford to lose with a goal difference of up to six goals against Wolfsburg on Wednesday afternoon.

Results

Davos. 85th Spengler Cup. Cattini Group: Davos - Vitkovice 2:1 (0:0, 2:1, 0:0). – Standings: 1. Team Canada 1/3. 2. Davos 1/3. 3. Vitkovice 2/0. – Torriani Group: Kloten - Wolfsburg 6:0 (1:0, 2:0, 3:0). – Standings: 1. Dinamo Riga 1/3. 2. Kloten 2/3. 3. Wolfsburg 1/0. – Wednesday’s games: Dinamo Riga - Wolfsburg (3pm CET) and Davos - Team Canada (8:15pm CET). (Si)