Canada improves to 3-0 at Spengler Cup

Dale McTavish's attempted pass caromed in off a defenceman's stick and gave Canada a 3-2 victory over Russian club Salavat Yulaev Ufa at the Spengler Cup hockey tournament Saturday in Davos, Switzerland.

Canada, 3-0, can advance to the championship game on Monday with a win over Adler Mannheim on Sunday. The German club lost 6-1 to Ufa earlier in the tournament.

McTavish, 35, a native of Eganville, Ont., who plays for EV Zug in the Swiss elite league, was feeding the puck to Travis Green when it bounced past Russian goalie Alexander Eremenko in the 47th minute.

Green took a penalty with two minutes left and Eremenko was lifted for an extra attacker to give the Russians a 6-on-4 advantage in skaters in the final minute, but they couldn't beat goaltender Curtis Joseph, the 40-year-old former NHLer from Keswick, Ont.

Canada overcame an early deficit on an Andrei Kuteykin goal to take a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Yves Sarault, 35, a native of Valleyfield, Que., who plays for Basel of the Swiss league, and by Simon Gamache, 26, the Thetford Mines, Que., forward who plays for the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies.

Former NHL defenceman Oleg Tverdosky scored the only goal of the second period, and McTavish won it for Canada in the third.