Patrick Pohl in a duel with Guntis Galvins of Dinamo Riga
Hosts HC Davos and Latvian team Dinamo Riga will be facing each other in the final for the 85th Spengler Cup tomorrow (12pm CET). Davos beat Vitkovice Steel this afternoon (4:2), and in the second semi-final tonight, Dinamo Riga won against EHC Wolfsburg, the runner-up of last season’s DEL season (4:1). Davos against Riga in the final is the fixture that everyone has been hoping for.
Martins Karsums decided the game almost on his own: Riga’s left winger scored the two game-winning goals in the sold-out Vaillant Arena (6,500 spectators) within just 114 seconds (27./29.). The final goal of the game was scored by Lundmark: when Wolfsburg had pulled their goalie and tried everything to get back into the game, his empty netter a few seconds before the final whistle was the final nail in the Germans‘ coffin.
Out of Energy
Wolfsburg was not able to, and was probably also too exhausted to, deliver the same performance as in yesterday’s game against Team Canada in the quarter-finals, when they beat their opponents after penalties. Consequently, Riga didn’t have to show its best hockey tonight to knock the Germans out of the tournament.
After the National Hockey League (NHL), the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is, without any doubt, the second-best hockey league in the world. The last three Spengler Cups have proved this as well: since the Russian top league was re-organized and the KHL was formed, the Spengler Cup has always been won by one of its teams. And this year, even a “low-budget” team from the lower half of the KHL table could continue in its predecessors’ footsteps and win the 2011 Spengler Cup.
Unbeaten Into the Final
Just like hosts HC Davos the Latvian team has reached tomorrow’s final after three clear wins during the preliminary round and in the semi-finals. In their first game, they humiliated the Kloten Flyers in a very one-sided game (9:2) and then beat Wolfsburg twice without any problems and without wasting too much energy.
Although it was Wolfsburg that scored the first goal this evening, this wasn’t good enough: Wolfsburg’s Kohl took advantage of a bad save by the otherwise brilliant Riga goaltender Chris Holt (12.) – but this lead was again given away, mainly by Wolfsburg’s not very convincing goaltender Daniar Dshunussow: He himself put the puck over the line to tie the game, and then slipped and fell just a split second before Karsums scored a shorthanded goal to put his team in front.
