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Former Senator scores winner as Prague beats Canada 5-1 in Spengler quarterfinals

Former Senator scores winner as Prague beats Canada 5-1 in Spengler quarterfinals | iNFOnews.ca
Praha's Filip Chlapik celebrates after scoring during the game between HC Sparta Praha of Czech Republic and Team Canada at the 97th Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)

DAVOS — Former Ottawa Senators forward Filip Chlapik scored the winning goal as Sparta Prague eliminated Canada from the Spengler Cup hockey tournament with a 5-1 quarterfinal win Monday.

Martins Dzierkals scored the opening goal of the game early in the third period and added an empty-netter for the Czech side, who will face the U.S. Collegiate Selects in Tuesday’s semifinals. Kristian Vesalainen had a second empty-net goal before David Nemecek capped the scoring with one second remaining.

Canada’s Matthew Peca scored at 13:07 of the third to tie the game 1-1 before Chlapik scored the winner 95 seconds later.

Jakub Kovar stopped 29 shots for Prague while Connor Hughes made 21 saves for Canada.

Canada has won the invitational tournament 16 times, tied with host HC Davos for the most titles. But the Canadians haven’t earned a championship since winning four out of five titles between 2015 and 2019.

Chlapik was selected by Ottawa in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft and played 57 career games with the Senators, scoring five goals and adding six assists.

He is in his third season of a second stint with Sparta Prague, his hometown club.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2025.

Former Senator scores winner as Prague beats Canada 5-1 in Spengler quarterfinals | iNFOnews.ca
Praha’s Filip Chlapik, left, and Fribourg’s Simon Seiler challenge for the puck during the Spengler Cup hockey match between HC Fribourg-Gotteron and HC Sparta Praha in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday, Dec. 26, 2026. (Melanie Duchene/Keystone via AP)

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The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is Canada's trusted news source and leader in providing real-time, bilingual multimedia stories across print, broadcast and digital platforms.

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