Duchene scores twice in Canada's 5-1 win over Fribourg in Spengler Cup semifinal
DAVOS, Switzerland - Matt Duchene scored twice and added an assist in Canada's 5-1 semifinal victory over HC Fribourg on Sunday at the Spengler Cup.
Jason Spezza, Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Carlo Colaiacovo also scored for the Canadians, who have outscored their opponents 10-1 since an overtime loss to German team Adler Mannheim on Boxing Day to open the tournament.
Canada will play for the championship on Monday against the winner of Sunday's late game between host HC Davos and Vitkovice Steel.
Fribourg had two separate 5-on-3 power plays in a tight first period but Canada fought them both off. Devan Dubnyk, earning the start over Jonathan Bernier, made 25 saves for the win.
Jason Spezza opened the scoring on the power play late in the first period when he tapped in a rebound off a Colaiacovo shot. Pouliot made it 2-0 early in the second when he capitalized on a turnover and made a clever deke to beat Fribourg goalie Cory Schneider.
Duchene added a short-handed goal late in the second period but Fribourg answered 24 seconds later on a goal from Canadian-born defenceman Joel Kwiatkowski.
Fribourg pressed the Canadian side in the third period but Duchene made sure Canada stayed on top to stay. He won a clean faceoff to get the puck back to Colaiacovo, who blasted it through traffic at the 6:25 mark to restore Canada's three-goal lead.
Eight minutes later, Duchene took a nice pass just inside the blue-line from Jason Williams, streaked down the wing and fired home a high wrist shot for an insurance goal.
Duchene and Kwiatkowski were named the players of the game for their respective teams.
