Beating Team Canada – thanks to a crazy turnaround: Pardubice follows HC Davos to the final – Sports

Polovich makes the transition perfect

Suddenly Canada started shaking again. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic, finding themselves without a goalkeeper once again, looked for an equaliser. And indeed: Martin Kuyt managed to score the famous equalizer 1:23 minutes before the end. I've gotten better. 44 seconds later, Matej Paulović pushed his team into the final and put the Canadians in misery.

In its third participation in the Spengler Cup, Pardubice reached the final for the first time. There the Czech national team will face its host Davos on Sunday afternoon (live on SRF Channel 2 from 11:55 am). Graubünden beat Frolunda 4-3 after extra time in the afternoon semi-final.

The Canadians opened the scoring in the second semi-final. After a scoreless start to the third, Jonathan Hazen came up just 24 seconds into the period. The prep work done by Chris DiDomenico was especially worth seeing. Friborg striker Goteron played the puck onto an opposing stick to a teammate who finished the ball skillfully. It didn't take long for Pardubice to respond. In the 25th minute, Radel scored with a powerful shot into the right corner to make the score 1-1.

Canada withdraws thanks to Grant

Then, turbulent scenes occurred in the final stage of the second third. In the 38th minute, Martin Poku scored the supposed 2-1 lead for the Czechs. After a long video study, the goal was disallowed by the referees due to goalkeeper interference. Shortly afterward, the Canadians were allowed to cheer. With 1.5 seconds before the siren, Derek Grant put his team ahead for the second time.

At the beginning of the final period, Pardubice had the opportunity to equalize again with an advantage. But after losing the ball, Grant broke free and scored with confidence to make it 3-1. Team Canada was initially able to manage that lead. But in the final stage they allowed the victory they thought was certain to be taken away from them.