Team Canada downs HC Lugano to win Spengler Cup for 13th time

Canada ran the table at the Spengler Cup en route to its 13th championship at the yearly tournament. After squeaking by HC Davos in the semi-final, Canada downed HC Lugano 4-3 thanks to a third period tally by Matt D’Agostini.

It took a late goal from Matt D’Agostini, but Team Canada has won the Spengler Cup for the second time in four years after downing Swiss club HC Lugano in the final.

The Canadian club, coached by Guy Boucher, went down early in the game, however, and had to battle back. Less than 10 minutes into the contest, Lugano’s Gregory Hoffman scored the game’s opening goal and it took Canada until nearly the end of the first frame to get a shot past Lugano netminder Elvis Merzlikins.

Canada began to pull away in the second frame, though. Less than four minutes into the frame, Derek Roy scored to put Canada ahead 2-1 and, little more than a minute and a half later, Tom Pyatt added to the lead thanks to a feed from Chris DiDomenico, who picked up his second assist of the game.

Lugano wouldn’t go away quietly, however. Alessandro Chiesa brought the Swiss side within one of Canada with a power play tally. Once the third period began, it took just five minutes of play for Lugano to really put the pressure on the Canadian club when Hoffman picked up his second goal of the game to tie the contest 3-3.

It took only three minutes for Canada to strike back and they wouldn’t look back. Aaron Johnson took a puck back behind the Lugano net and threw the puck out front where it found D’Agostini. He wasted no time and rifled the puck that found its way through Merzlikins to put Canada up 4-3. Goaltender Jeff Glass made 31 stops to give Canada the win.

Canada didn’t lose a single game in the six-team tournament en route to their 13th Spengler Cup. Following the game, Canada’s Cory Conacher was named to the tournament’s all-star team with two goals and five points in four games.

The complete Canadian Spengler Cup-winning roster is listed below:

Goaltenders: Jeff Glass (Calgary/Dinamo Minsk, KHL), Drew McIntyre (Charlottetown/Charlotte, AHL);

Defensemen: Keith Aulie (Rouleau, Sask./Springfield, AHL), Trevor Carrick (Stouffville, Ont./Charlotte, AHL),Mark Cundari (Toronto/San Jose, AHL), Marc-André Bergeron (Trois-Rivières, Que./ZSC Lions, SUI),Aaron Johnson (Port Hawkesbury, N.S./Stockton, AHL), Alexandre Picard (Gatineau, Que./HC Fribourg-Gottéron, SUI) and Daniel Vukovic (North York, Ont./Genève-Servette HC, SUI);

Forwards: Kris Foucault (Calgary/ZSC Lions, SUI), Derek Roy (Rockland, Ont./SC Bern, SUI), Kevin Clark (Winnipeg/SCL Tigers, SUI), Dan Paille (Welland, Ont./Rockford, AHL), Matthew Lombardi (Montreal/Genève-Servette HC, SUI), Cory Conacher (Burlington, Ont./SC Bern, SUI), Manny Malhotra (Mississauga, Ont./Lake Erie, AHL), Cory Emmerton (St. Thomas, Ont./HC Ambri-Piotta, SUI), Tom Pyatt (Thunder Bay, Ont./Genève-Servette HC, SUI), Matt D’Agostini (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont./Genève-Servette HC, SUI), Matt Ellison (Duncan, B.C./Dinamo Minsk, KHL), Alexandre Giroux (Quebec City/HC Ambri-Piotta, SUI), Chris DiDomenico (Woodbridge, Ont./SCL Tigers, SUI) and James Sheppard (Lower Sackville, N.S./Kloten Flyers, SUI).