BUFFALO, N.Y. — David Krejci had three assists to cross the 700-point threshold and the Boston Bruins beat Buffalo 4-1 on Thursday night to extend the Sabres’ skid to 13 games.
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, Craig Smith, Jake DeBrusk and Greg McKegg also scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves.
Krejci became the eighth Bruins player to notch 700 points. He has 208 goals and 494 assists in 935 NHL games, all with Boston.
Smith, who joined the Bruins this season after nine years in Nashville, said playing with Krejci has been “incredible.”
“He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with,” Smith said.
Kyle Okposo scored his first career short-handed goal but it was hardly enough for the Sabres in their first game under new coach Don Granato. Buffalo’s 13-game skid (0-11-2) is the second-longest in franchise history and the longest in the NHL since the Sabres lost 14 straight during the 2014-15 season.
“The bottom line is we need to go forward,” Granato said. “We need to demand more, obviously. Push harder, all of us. Coaches, players, everybody.”
The two-game series concludes Saturday in Buffalo, when up to 1,800 fans _ 10% of building capacity _ will be allowed to attend.
The game was allowed to proceed after both teams cancelled their pregame skates due to members entering the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Boston forward Sean Kuraly was added to the protocol list, while the Sabres did not disclose which member of their hockey staff had a positive test.
The Sabres’ season has already been disrupted by a two-week pause after seven players and former coach Ralph Krueger spent time in the protocol in early February.
Krueger was fired Wednesday, but the coaching change did little to inspire the Sabres’ performance. Buffalo extended its home losing streak to 10 games (0-9-1), the second-longest in team history after a 12-game skid in 1991.
The Bruins took the lead for good when DeBrusk scored on a power play midway through the second period. After drawing a high-sticking penalty on Buffalo’s Matt Irwin, DeBrusk got to the front of the net, knocked down a high rebound from David Pastrnak’s point shot and poked the puck past Hutton for his third of the season.
Krejci got his 700th point with a secondary assist on DeBrusk’s goal. He then set up Smith in the slot to make it 3-1 late in the third period, and notched his third assist on Pastrnak’s team-leading 14th goal on a power play in the fifth minute of the third period.
“He is going to get you the puck if you are a scorer,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If you are a shooter, find open ice and be ready if he’s ready to dish it. That is Krejci’s best attribute. His puck skills and vision.”
Okposo snapped a 30-game scoreless streak and tied the game for Buffalo with his shorthanded goal in the opening minutes of the second period. His shot from outside the right circle deflected off the stick of Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk and fluttered over Halak’s glove.
“I think we really got going after the shorty,” Cassidy said. “It was a bit of a lucky deflection. But guys got dialed in to getting back to playing our way.”
Carter Hutton stopped 33 shots for Buffalo.
McKegg, who replaced Kuraly in the lineup, tipped in Grzelcyk’s shot to scored his first goal as a Bruin less than three minutes into the game.
BRUINS INJURIES
Boston C Trent Frederic sustained a lower-body injury when he blocked a shot in the first period and did not finish the game. Postgame X-rays were negative, Cassidy said.
Bruins G Tuuka Rask is nearing a return from missing six gams with an undisclosed injury. Rask will be evaluated on Friday, Cassidy, and could play Saturday.
ROSTER MOVE
Buffalo recalled rookie D Jacob Bryson from the taxi squad Thursday, and Bryson tallied his first NHL assist on Okposo’s goal.
BACK IN THE BUILDING
The Sabres invited more than 700 frontline workers and guests from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to be the first fans in attendance at KeyBanker Center this season. They were honoured during video tributes throughout the game as part of Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
