Wolfsburg loses against Dinamo Riga

With today's 3:1 win against Wolfsburg, Dinamo Riga finishes the Torriani Group in first place. The Kloten Flyers are in second place after the preliminary phase of the tournament and will be playing against Vitkovice on Thursday.

Not much was at stake in this fifth Spengler Cup game (6,147 spectators) in the Vaillant Arena in Davos. Dinamo Riga could even have afforded a defeat with up to six goals difference against the Germans. But the team from Latvia was not going to take any chances and won the game 3:1; they were ahead 2:0 after the first period already.

Both teams left some of their best players on the bench today and granted them some rest. Wolfsburg was able to keep up with Dinamo and the game was rather tight until the end. If the Germans had been a bit more efficient in front of the goal, they could even have won the game.

Paetsch Scores His Team's Only Goal

But the team from the German DEL only managed to score its first goal in the 54th minute, when they were playing a powerplay as two Latvians were in the penalty box. Nathan Paetsch scored Wolfsburg's only goal of the game and the team's first goal of the tournament.

With today's win, Dinamo Riga have won their group and are directly qualified for the semi-finals on Friday. On Thursday afternoon, the Kloten Flyers will be playing their quarter-final against HC Vitkovice, which finished the Cattini Group in third place.

Who's Going to Win the Cattini Group?

Tonight hosts HC Davos will be playing against Team Canada to decide who'll also make it to the semi-finals directly – one of these two teams will win the Cattini Group and reach the Spengler Cup semi-finals.

Dinamo Riga - Wolfsburg 3:1 (2:0, 0:0, 1:1)

Vaillant Arena. – 6,147 spectators. - Referees Kurmann/Stricker (Switzerland), Kaderli/Müller. - Goals: 11. Warg (Lundmark, Cibulskis) 1:0. 14. Ankipans (Bukarts) 2:0. 47. Bukarts (Meija/penalty Galwins!) 3:0. 54. Paetsch (Fischer/penalties Cibulskis, Cipuliss) 3:1. - Penalties: 5 x 2 minutes against Dinamo Riga, 2 x 2 minutes against Wolfsburg. - Notes: Goaltenders: Jucers for Dinamo Riga, Lang for Wolfsburg.

Results:

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