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3 Keys: Golden Knights vs. Canucks, Game 3 of Western Second Round – NHL.com

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No. 1 Golden Knights vs. No. 5 Canucks

9:45 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

Best-of-7 series is tied, 1-1

The Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks will look take the lead in the Western Conference Second Round when they play Game 3 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thursday.

The game was rescheduled from Thursday after the players on the eight remaining teams decided not to play as a form of protest against systemic racism and police brutality.

“When you’re in the League, you’re fierce competitors on the ice,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “That’s the respect the players have of the game, they understand how it’s played on the ice. They also understand when you leave the ice, you’re all players in a great sport.

“Everyone loves playing hockey and being in the NHL and I don’t expect it to change one bit tonight. I expect the intensity to get magnified as the game goes on.”

Teams that win Game 3 after a Stanley Cup Playoff series is tied 1-1 are 218-107 (67.1 percent) winning a best-of-7 series, including 3-1 this postseason.

“We’re ready to go, we’re excited to get back playing,” Golden Knights forward Mark Stone said. “We want to win the Stanley Cup, they want to win the Stanley Cup. I think a lot of us have plenty of friends, not just on our own teams throughout the League, but when it comes to getting on the ice, it’s a whole different breed.”

Here are 3 keys for Game 3:

1. Goalie decisions

Robin Lehner (6-2-0, 2.34 goals-against average, .909 save percentage, one shutout) will start his fifth straight game after losing 5-2 loss in Game 2 on Tuesday. Marc-Andre Fleury, who has not lost to Vancouver in regulation since Jan. 16, 2006, is 2-0-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .886 save percentage in two postseason starts.

Jacob Markstrom is expected to start for the Canucks. He’s 8-4 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and one shutout in 12 postseason starts.

2. Bypassing the blocks

The Golden Knights are confident they can devise a strategy to get even more shots through against Markstrom. Vegas had 93 shot attempts in Game 2, including 40 shots on goal, but had 40 shots blocked. Markstrom made 38 saves.

“We have to keep wearing them down, keep shooting and finding ways to get pucks through and getting traffic in front,” Golden Knights forward Mark Stone said. “The quicker you move the puck, get them moving, that’s when you start creating lanes.”

 
3. Dominating draws

Vancouver captain Bo Horvat leads the postseason with 177 face-off wins and 298 face-offs taken (59.4 percent).

He is 39-for-54 (72.2 percent) against the Golden Knights. The Canucks were 40-for-63 (63 percent) on face-offs in Game 1 and 43-for-65 (66 percent) in Game 2, after ranking second in the NHL during the regular season at 54.0 percent, behind the Philadelphia Flyers (54.6 percent).

Vegas is last in face-off winning percentage (44.5 percent) among the eight remaining teams.

 
Golden Knights projected lineup

Max PaciorettyWilliam Karlsson — Mark Stone

Reilly SmithPaul StastnyJonathan Marchessault

Nick CousinsNicolas RoyAlex Tuch

William CarrierChandler StephensonRyan Reaves

Shea TheodoreAlec Martinez

Brayden McNabbNate Schmidt

Zach WhitecloudNick Holden

Robin Lehner

Marc-Andre Fleury

Scratched: Dylan Coghlan, Oscar Dansk, Reid Duke, Deryk Engelland, Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Peyton Krebs, Jon Merrill, Gage Quinney, Patrick Brown

Unfit to play: Tomas Nosek

 
Canucks projected lineup

Tanner PearsonElias PetterssonTyler Toffoli

J.T. Miller — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Antoine RousselAdam GaudetteBrandon Sutter

Tyler MotteJay BeagleJake Virtanen

Alexander EdlerTroy Stecher

Quinn HughesChristopher Tanev

Oscar FantenbergJordie Benn

Jacob Markstrom

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Olli Juolevi, Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, Louis Domingue, Tyler Graovac, Brogan Rafferty, Loui Eriksson

Unfit to play: Micheal Ferland, Josh Leivo, Tyler Myers

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

AP NFL:

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