Former Ottawa Senators forward Filip Chlapik secured the decisive goal, leading Sparta Prague to a 5-1 victory over Team Canada in the quarterfinals of the Spengler Cup hockey tournament on Monday. Martins Dzierkals initiated the scoring early in the third period and later added an empty-net goal for the Czech team, who will now advance to face the U.S. Collegiate Selects in the upcoming semifinals.
Kristian Vesalainen contributed a second empty-net goal, followed by David Nemecek scoring with just one second left in the game. Matthew Peca netted a goal for Canada at 13:07 of the third period to level the score at 1-1, but Chlapik quickly followed with the game-winning goal 95 seconds later.
Prague’s goaltender, Jakub Kovar, made 29 saves, while Connor Hughes of Canada stopped 21 shots. Despite having secured the Spengler Cup title 16 times, Canada has not claimed victory since their dominance between 2015 and 2019, sharing the record with host HC Davos for the most championships.
Chlapik, who was drafted by Ottawa in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft, previously played 57 games for the Senators, registering five goals and six assists. He is currently in his third season of a return stint with his hometown club, Sparta Prague.
