THE CANADIAN PRESS
DAVOS, Switzerland — Canada scored five goals in the first period Monday en route to a 7-1 win over HC Vitkovice Steel in its opener at the Spengler Cup.
Joel Kwiatkowski, Domenic Pittis, Mark Hartigan, Brett McLean and Rico Fata scored in the first for the Canadians, who completely outplayed their Czech opponents. Shawn Heins picked up two assists in the period.
Kwiatkowski added another goal on the power play at 17:07 of the second. Kurtis McLean added Canada’s seventh goal in the third.
Former NHL goalie Marty Turco started for Canada and was never really threatened by Vitkovice until Australian teenager Nathan Walker broke the shutout bid midway through the final period.
Canada got on the board quickly in the first when Kwiatkowski one-timed a shot from the top of the circle at 2:29 past Vitkovice goalie Filip Sindelar.
Pittis made it 2-0 just 34 seconds later when Stacy Roest found him in the slot on a delayed penalty. Perrault scored at 6:49 to make it 3-0 on a weak shot that Sindelar should have had.
Brett McLean made it 4-0 with a pretty deflection on a two-man advantage off a point shot from Shawn Heinz at 10:08. Fata stretched the lead with a backhand deke on a breakaway at 17:15.
Walker, a 17-year-old from Australia, banged home a rebound past Turco on the power play at 8:23 of the third period for Vitkovice’s lone goal.
Kurtis McLean added the final goal at 12:33 of the third for Canada, which will face host HC Davos on Wednesday.
The Spengler Cup, the oldest professional international hockey tournament in the world, has been held in the picturesque mountain town of Davos since 1923. The competition features five European club teams and a Canadian entry comprised largely of European-based pros.
Canada didn’t have much time for preparation. The team gathered for a meeting on Saturday night and practised for the first time Sunday.
Former NHL head coach Marc Crawford is leading Canada, along with assistants Doug Shedden and Trent Yawney. Canada has appeared in nine of the last 11 Spengler Cup finals, last winning the tournament in 2007.
The format offers little margin for error. After opening with two round-robin games, the tournament shifts into a sudden-death playoff round. The championship game will be played on New Year’s Eve.