This series brings together two teams at different stages of development, but who we might discover aren’t so far separated from one another.
Two years ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were the league’s biggest surprise when they advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their expansion season. A return to the Final in 2019-20 would surprise absolutely no one. No matter which way you study this roster, they’re a formidable opponent.
Offensive stars like Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty headline a deep talent pool of big-game players like Alex Tuch and Reilly Smith, while a lockdown defensive core stifles opponents almost immediately upon entry, making them an incredibly difficult team against which to garner any sort of momentum – just ask the Chicago Blackhawks, who fell to the top-seeded team in Round 1.
STATS!
this is our first series victory on “home ice” in franchise history
The only real question mark above this club is which proven starting netminder will tend to the crease on any given night – both Marc-Andre Fleury and newcomer Robin Lehner are more than capable of backstopping this team to success, as they’ve proven through seven games so far.
Vancouver, meantime, is still building towards its peak, though a six-game series win against the defending Cup champion Blues feels like a defining moment. There was a lot of playoff inexperience on this roster, but they’ve so far shown the poise of a veteran lineup and no one should be surprised if they give Vegas a run for their money, too.
Here’s how the Canucks and Golden Knights match up:
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Vegas’ primary strength: Elite two-way play The Vegas Golden Knights are shooting and scoring at a pace better than most of their peers, yet it’s not just their pure offensive firepower that sets them apart from the rest.
Take it from the coach they just sent packing.
“They have a lot of different elements to their team,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton told reporters after Tuesday’s series-ender. “They have some offensive guys who are dangerous whenever they’re on the ice, but for the most part a lot of them play a tremendous two-way game and that’s hard to play against.”
Few players embody Vegas’ elite combination of shutdown and sharp-shooting like Mark Stone. His ability to lock down the defensive zone, orchestrate plays from neutral zone, grind in the corners, and drive hard towards the net – all in just a few seconds – makes him a true difference-maker each time he’s on the ice.
Feast your eyes on this GORGEOUS William Karlsson (@WKarlsson71) backhander.
“And then they have the depth guys who are able to tilt the ice and hold you down in your defensive zone and out-change you,” said Colliton. “They’re a physical team. They make you pay a price to make plays and they just come at you over and over again.”
Vancouver’s primary strength: Offence from the core In a season all about trying to take that “next step,” the Canucks already surpassed expectations and have done it thanks largely to their young core. There was some question as to how young Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes would fare in their first playoff appearances, as well as how captain Bo Horvat would do in his first taste of the post-season, but they, along with JT Miller, have been Vancouver’s top scorers so far.
Entering Round 2, only one team has scored more goals at 5-on-5 than the Canucks and it happens to be their opponents. But their power play, which was a top-four unit in the regular season, has maintained consistency with a 25 per cent conversion rate in the playoffs as well. Vancouver as a team showed a lot of character in upsetting the Blues, coming back from a 3-1 deficit in Game 5 and jumping out to an insurmountable 4-0 lead in Game 6 thanks to key goals from lower in the lineup during those games. But this team is driven by its youngest players at the top of the lineup and this second-round matchup with an up-tempo Vegas team will present a much different challenge than the Blues offered. Can they keep up with the Golden Knights?
Vegas’ primary weakness: Power play Let’s be honest: using the word “weakness” to describe anything about this Golden Knights squad is a pretty big stretch. They’ve been nearly flawless in the Edmonton bubble so far, going 3-0 in round-robin play to grab the top seed in the West and making quick work of the Chicago Blackhawks in Round 1.
While it’s tough to beat this club at five-on-five, Vegas’ power-play unit hasn’t exactly been known for its dominance. Though their 22 per cent power play conversion rate during the regular season — good for ninth in the category league-wide — can’t particularly be called a weakness, their performance with the man advantage this post-season has generally been lacking.
In 21 power-play opportunities through the round robin and first round, Vegas scored four goals — that’s a 19 per cent power-play success rate, which puts them in the bottom half of those rankings. Narrow the scope to just Round 1, and the Golden Knights’ power-play struggles were particularly evident, tallying just a single marker in 10 opportunities with the man advantage for a 10 per cent success rate — and that came late in the second period of the fifth and final game against Chicago.
We’ve seen how heavily special teams can factor into playoff outcomes. With so much playoff parity, it’s often these details that can give a team the edge.
Vancouver’s primary weakness: Allowing too many high quality scoring chances No team left standing has allowed more high danger chances against at 5-on-5 than the Canucks, who have given up 23 more than any other. Jacob Markstrom, the team’s regular season MVP, has been their rock again in the post-season, with a league-best .905 high danger save percentage. They’ve been able to lean on Markstrom so far, but Vegas’ relentless offence is a couple steps up from what the Canucks’ prior opponents (Minnesota and St. Louis) could muster.
Vegas is all about puck possession and dominating scoring chances, with a 5-on-5 high danger scoring chance percentage over 60 in these playoffs that has led them to a dominating 7-1 record so far. The Canucks either need to improve on this defence, hope Markstrom stands on his head, or be able to match what they give up to Vegas at the other end of the ice. A tough challenge indeed.
Vegas Golden Knights X-Factor: Max Pacioretty While the Golden Knights have played a very complete game throughout the lineup, we have yet to see a few of the club’s biggest stars really shine.
After leading the Golden Knights in goals (32) and points (66) in the regular season, Max Pacioretty has been relatively quiet so far in Edmonton. It’s not difficult to see why: he missed much of training camp while dealing with an undisclosed injury, sat out all three round-robin games, and was then thrown right into the intensity against Chicago. And while a goal and an assist through four games is nothing to scoff at – especially when teammates and noted playoff performers like Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, and Alex Tuch are there to power the team — his status, comfort level, and overall production will be worth keeping an eye on as the intensity rises. He was magic in Round 1 of last year’s playoffs, registering a handful of goals and 11 points in the seven-game series loss to San Jose. Now, Vegas will need No. 67 at his best once again if they’re to raise Lord Stanley’s chalice at the end of this.
Vancouver Canucks X-Factor: Contributions from the bottom-six Whether it’s by generating more offence, or slowing Vegas’ forwards, the Canucks’ bottom-six forwards need to be a presence. Tyler Motte was a Round 1 hero, but it’s hard to continue counting on him as a goal scorer. None of the depth forwards have a Corsi percentage over 50 and all have been on the ice for more scoring chances against than for. Markstrom’s brilliance has helped bail them out, but as the competition ramps up there needs to be improvement and greater consistency at both ends.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
