Canada tops Nurnberg to advance to Spengler Cup final

zach-boychuk

Team Canada's Zach Boychuk, left, celebrates after scoring during the game between Team Canada and Mountfield HK at the 91st Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland — Zach Boychuk scored twice in the first period and Canada went on to double up the Nuremberg Ice Tigers 4-2 on Sunday in semifinal action at the Spengler Cup.

Cory Emmerton also scored in the opening frame and Chris DiDomenico added a second-period goal for the defending champion Canadians, who advanced to Monday’s final against Finnish team KalPa Kuopio.

Daniel Weiss scored in the second period for the Ice Tigers and Brandon Buck brought the game within two late in the third.

Zach Fucale was rarely challenged in the Canadian net, facing 17 total shots, including just three in the first period.

Niklas Treutle made 29 saves for the German team.

Canada had faced the Ice Tigers in its final preliminary-round game on Friday, beating them 6-2 to advance directly to Sunday’s semi. Nuremberg had to play a quarterfinal against Russian team Metallurg Magnitogorsk on Saturday to earn a rematch against the undefeated Canadians.

Canada has won the tournament 15 times, including the past three years, since first taking part in 1984.

Kuopio edged host HC Davos 2-1 later Sunday in the other semfinal.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.