2016-17 National Men's Team

POWER PLAY PUSHES CANADA INTO SPENGLER CUP SEMIS

JASON LA ROSE

DAVOS, Switzerland – Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C./SC Bern, NLA), Maxim Noreau (Montreal, Que./SC Bern, NLA) and Mason Raymond (Cochrane, Alta./Hockey Canada) all scored on the power play, leading Canada’s National Men’s Team to a 5-1 quarter-final win over Mountfield HK on Thursday at the 2016 Spengler Cup.

The victory sets up a rematch with HC Dinamo Minsk in the semifinals on Friday (9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT). Minsk topped the Canadians 7-4 in the tournament opener for both on Monday.

Ebbett, Raymond and Brandon Gormley (Murray River, P.E.I./Albany, AHL) were the offensive leaders for Canada, recording a goal and two assists apiece.

Francis Paré (Lemoyne, Que./KHL Medvescak Zagreb, KHL) was the other Canadian goal scorer, while Zach Fucale (Rosemère, Que./Brampton, ECHL) stopped 19 of 20 to record his second win in goal.

The Canadian power play went to work less than five minutes in, with Andrew Ebbett burying a big rebound off a point shot from Mark Katic (Timmins, Ont./KHL Medvescak Zagreb, KHL) at 4:19.

Noreau doubled the lead very late in the opening frame on another man advantage, getting a wrist shot through traffic and past Mountfield goaltender Ondrej Kacetl with just 19 seconds left.

Gormley made it 3-0 at 13:32 of the second period, finishing off a 3-on-2 with Ebbett and Raymond by knocking in a loose puck in the crease, but Jaroslav Bednar one back for the Czech side with 40 seconds left, hammering a one-timer past Fucale on the power play.

Any momentum Mountfield took into the final 20 minutes didn’t last long; Raymond parked himself at the side of the net and scored on a rebound to restore the three-goal advantage on the power play at 2:24 of the third.

Paré capped the scoring just 37 seconds later, roofing a shot over the glove of Kacetl from in close.

The Canadian power play has clicked at a rate of just over 38 per cent through three games, scoring eight times on 21 chances. More than half of Canada’s goals in the tournament – eight of 13 – have come with the man advantage.