Ambri-Piotta wins 2022 Spengler Cup after beating Sparta Prague
Ambri-Piotta has won one of the biggest events in team history, beating Czech-based Sparta Prague 3-2 in the shootout to claim the Spengler Cup championship.
The win is Ambri-Piotta’s first championship of any kind since the 2000 IIHF Continental Cup. They have never won the National League championship and last won the Swiss Cup in 1962, so the win is a huge moment in the team’s franchise history.
Prague last won the tournament in 1963, losing in the final in 2004.
Both teams had a perfect record heading into the tournament, earning byes through the round-robin.
It only took Ambri-Piotta 5:45 to score the game’s first goal. On the man advantage, Filip Chlapik found Alex Formenton standing alone to the left of the Prague net and he fired a one-timer past Jakub Kovar for the 1-0 goal.
Less than a minute later, though, David Tomasek’s shot hit the shoulder of Janne Juovonen and in for the 1-1 goal, answering back quickly for Prague.
But some bad bounces by Prague’s power play ended up biting them early in the second. Ambri defenseman Tim Heed was able to get the puck through traffic to set Formenton back up on a rush, with Formenton sending a shot past Kovar on the breakaway to make it 2-1.
Prague, playing in must-win mode, controlled the third period and it eventually paid off. At 53:53, after sustained pressure, Roman Horak’s shot blasted past Juvonen for the game-tying goal – which sent the game to extra time.
After some incredible back-and-forth efforts in overtime, including three breakaways, nothing was solved and a shootout was required for the second time in the past three tournaments. Dario Burgler scored first for Ambri-Piotta, with Erik Thorell scoring in a must-win situation for Prague to answer back. That put the pressure on Inti Pestoni, who scored the game-winning goal for Ambri-Piotta to earn the victory – the biggest in franchise history.
Inti Pestoni scores the shootout winner and for the first time ever, Ambri-Piotta has won the #SpenglerCup.
Biggest win in team history. #HCAP pic.twitter.com/wiqWyUQ7uY