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Oilers’ shifting mentality evident after blowing late lead vs. Leafs – Sportsnet.ca

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3 years ago

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The good news is, they’re not the Vancouver Canucks. The Edmonton Oilers are no longer a team that plays hard for 40 minutes, blows a lead, and issues quote after post-game quote about how they competed hard, played well, and will take the lesson home and be better for it.

Finally, the Oilers expect to win. And blowing a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes does not have a bunch of guys telling us how well they played, or how close they were.

“You can say you played a good second (period), whatever you want,” said defenceman Tyson Barrie, who was dynamic Saturday with a goal and an assist. “At the end of the day that’s not the team you want to be, where you have a two-goal lead and you give it up with seven minutes to play. That’s a game we have to learn how to close out.”

Toronto turned a 3-1 deficit after 40 minutes into a puncher’s chance in overtime, and Auston Matthews banked a shot off of Leon Draisaitl, then Darnell Nurse, and then behind goalie Mike Smith, who was stellar in the OT loss. It was pinball perfection, after which Matthews submitted, “I’ll take it…”

It was the perfect example of a team that failed to close it down, let the opponent have a chance to have a really lucky break win them the game, then saw it all unfold.

This happens, even to good teams. But true contenders don’t let it happen in a first-place showdown like this one.

Right?

Sure, Toronto scored two goals on ridiculous bounces, and a third on a fortunate carom right onto William Nylander’s tape. That’s not an excuse for losing.

“You’ve got to create your bounces a little bit, too,” Draisaitl said. “Two bad bounces, but it shouldn’t lead to that, in overtime.”

Four straight losses to Toronto leaves the Oilers stirred, but not shaken.

“Of course we can beat that team. There’s no question about it,” Draisaitl said defiantly. “It’s a good team — we’re a really good team. It’s always tight games, but there no questioning in our heads if we can beat them.”

After losing three times to the Leafs in Edmonton, then holding a 3-1 lead with seven minutes to play, you hit another level of maturation. Not the Canucks’ level, where they’re trying to figure out how to contend in a game like this. But a contender level, where you want to be the team that others look at and say, “Man, we’re down 3-1 with seven minutes to play? This is over…”

“We didn’t play well enough to win the game. We gave up too many chances, didn’t execute well enough,” head coach Dave Tippett said, his standards not having been encroached upon by this performance. “We expect to play well every night. We have an expectation within our group that we can play with anybody. To come in and not play as well as we’d like, nobody is happy about that.

“It was a winnable game, even though we didn’t play very well, and we didn’t win it. We’ll re-rack and get back at it again Monday.”

In a rare twist, the improbable news broke Saturday morning that this would be Connor McDavid’s first-ever Saturday night game against the Leafs in Toronto. “The league usually runs us through here on a Monday or Tuesday,” he said.

After compiling but a single assist between them in that three-game debacle at Edmonton, Draisaitl and McDavid were the two most dangerous players on the ice Saturday. They combined for five points and were magical, while Barrie and Nurse gave Edmonton two goals from the blue line, a stat that is accompanied by the proverbial ‘W’ likely 90 per cent of the time.

Alas, the other three forward lines dropped the ball.

Dominik Kahun provided his nightly costly turnover on one goal, while second-line centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went minus-2 without a shot on goal.

The level at which Edmonton’s two superstars play is sometimes unfathomable, and it won’t take much support to make this Oilers team into a Stanley Cup contender. But there isn’t enough below them at the moment, and we would expect Tippett to deploy them on separate lines in the rematch Monday night, after the Leafs’ second line scored twice to forge their comeback.

Edmonton has a good team, one that has played five games against Toronto this season that were basically coin flips.

But they’ve lost too many of them to say ‘they’re ready.’

Close, but not there yet.

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A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark are unanimous choices for WNBA AP Player and Rookie of the Year

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19 hours ago

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September 22, 2024

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A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark had record-breaking seasons, putting up stats the WNBA had never seen before.

Wilson became the first player in league history to score more than 1,000 points in a season, and she averaged a record 26.9 points. Clark broke the league’s single-season assist mark and scored the most points ever for a rookie.

So it’s no surprise the two were honored Sunday as the unanimous choices for the AP Player and Rookie of the Year awards, respectively, by a 15-member media panel.

“It means a lot,” Wilson said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “The preparation you put in, the approach I set myself up for this season.”

The Las Vegas Aces star was named the league’s MVP earlier Sunday, also unanimously. The WNBA will announce the rest of its awards over the course of the postseason, which begins Sunday.

Wilson finished the regular season with 1,021 points and 451 rebounds and led the league with 98 blocks. She finished third in the WNBA MVP voting last season, receiving one fourth-place vote that she said fueled her in the offseason to get better.

“It propelled me a little bit as I started my offseason workouts, but around February I was over it,” Wilson said. “I didn’t want to give that person that energy, that’s when I started to lock in.”

Clark came into the league with quite possibly more hype than any rookie ever and she delivered, leading the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. She broke the WNBA single-season record with 337 assists, including a league-record 19 in one game. She also broke the single-season rookie scoring mark as she averaged 19.2 points.

“This is a tremendous honor to be named The Associated Press Rookie of the Year,” she said. “This recognition wouldn’t be possible without an incredible group of teammates and coaches, and we are looking forward to continuing an exciting regular season in the postseason.”

Off the court she helped lift the WNBA to record ratings and attendance.

Clark headlined the all-rookie team along with Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky, who broke the rebounds-per-game record by averaging 13.1. She would have had the overall rebounding record as well had she not gotten hurt at the end of the season. Other rookies on the team were New York’s Leonie Fiebich, Los Angeles’ Rickea Jackson and Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso.

Wilson’s teammate Tiffany Hayes earned AP Sixth Woman of the Year honors.

“She’s our difference-maker in a lot of ways, what she brings on the court and in the locker room,” Wilson said. “Tiff doesn’t have to be the vocal leader, but everyone listens when she speaks — shows the great player she is.”

Wilson and Clark headlined the AP All-WNBA first team. They were joined by Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas. Sabrina Ionescu, Kahleah Copper, Nneka Ogwumike, Kayla McBride and Arike Ogunbowale were on the second team.

Other AP winners included:

—Coach of the Year: Cheryl Reeve. She helped Minnesota finish second in the regular season with a team that was picked ninth in the preseason. The Lynx won the Commissioner’s Cup and finished the regular season with 13 wins in their final 15 games.

—Comeback Player of the Year: Skylar Diggins-Smith. The Seattle Storm guard missed last season after giving birth to her second child. Diggins-Smith averaged 15.1 points and 6.4 assists this season.

—Most Improved Player: Dearica Hamby. The Los Angeles Sparks forward made a huge jump this season by averaging 17.3 points — 8.4 more than last season. She also improved her rebounding by more than three a game. Hamby edged Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington by one vote.

—Defensive Player: Collier. The Lynx star had an incredible season on both ends of the court, but she was an anchor especially for Minnesota’s stellar defense. The team had the best defense in the WNBA this season and Collier’s play was the main reason why. Wilson finished second, three votes behind Collier.

“I’m so proud of Phee’s defensive work in 2024. Her commitment to all aspects of our defense — deflections, denials, steals, blocks, rebounds — anchored one of the top defensive teams in the league and led to her best season yet as a pro,” Reeve said.

AP WNBA Power Poll

Minnesota finished atop the power poll, with New York second. Las Vegas and Connecticut were the next two teams. They were followed by Seattle, Indiana, Atlanta and Phoenix. Washington, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles finished off the poll.

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Erling Haaland scores his 100th goal for Manchester City

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19 hours ago

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September 22, 2024

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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland scored his 100th goal for Manchester City by giving his team the lead against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Norway international reached the landmark figure on his 105th appearance for the defending champion.

Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award for the best soccer player in the world this year, has been in outstanding form this season with his latest goal taking his total for the campaign to 10 in all competitions.

He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund for $63 million in 2022.

Haaland’s record is even more impressive considering it was achieved in 100 starts for the club.

Haaland opened the scoring in the ninth minute at Etihad Stadium when running through on goal and firing past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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CF Montreal claims important 2-0 win over Chicago as MLS playoff hunt heats up

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September 21, 2024

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MONTREAL – Josef Martinez and Caden Clark scored as CF Montreal defeated Chicago Fire FC 2-0 for a crucial Major League Soccer win on Saturday.

Martinez opened the scoring in the 21st minute to put Montreal ahead before Clark buried the insurance-marker in the 74th before an announced 19,619 spectators at Saputo Stadium.

Nathan Saliba, Kwadwo Opoku and captain Samuel Piette added assists as Montreal (8-12-10) extended its unbeaten run to three games (2-0-1) amid a late push to reach the MLS playoffs.

Montreal entered the match 13th in the Eastern Conference standings with 31 points, but only two behind Philadelphia Union, which occupied the second wild-card spot in ninth. Laurent Courtois’ squad has four games remaining in the regular season.

Chicago (7-16-8) began the day in 14th with 29 points and one more game played than Montreal, but failed to threaten goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois until late in the match.

Meanwhile, Montreal created offence with long passes in behind Chicago’s back line throughout the match.

In the second minute, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty broke in down the right wing before playing a dangerous ball into the box for Martinez, who swung and missed on his attempt.

Martinez later just barely stayed onside to score his team-leading seventh of the season. The veteran striker corralled a long ball from Nathan Saliba into the box before slicing a half-volley past Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady.

In the 37th minute, Bryce Duke went on the counter-attack with numbers, but kept the ball instead of laying a through ball to Martinez and ultimately sailed his outside shot over the crossbar.

Chicago played cautiously, content holding the ball without pushing forward through 45 minutes. Montreal led the shot attempts five to one.

Montreal was back on the attack early in the second half as Piette found Caden Clark on the left side of the box. Clark danced around a sliding Chicago defender Arnaud Souquet, but kicked his Grade A opportunity over the net.

Clark later got on the board with his second goal in three games. Opoku, who entered in the 72nd minute as a substitute, took a pass from Piette before finding Clark in alone. Clark showed poise with a cheeky chip over Brady to give Montreal the comfortable lead.

Substitute Matias Coccaro nearly made it 3-0 in the 85th when he was sent on a breakaway, but Brady came out to challenge and stopped his attempt.

Sirois had a busy end to the match as Chicago pressed for a goal in the final minutes. He turned away a header from Thomas Barlow at the centre of the box, a dangerous shot by Souquet streaking down the right wing and a header by Tobias Salquist in the dying minutes.

NOTES

Montreal defender Raheem Edwards reached 10,000 minutes in MLS at the 23-minute mark. In 10 seasons, the journeyman has played for Montreal (twice), Toronto FC, Chicago, Minnesota United FC, Los Angeles FC and L.A. Galaxy, totalling eight goals and 28 assists. … Fire winger Ariel Lassiter returned to Saputo Stadium after being traded from Montreal to Chicago on Aug. 14. The Costa Rica international had three goals and seven assists in Montreal this season. … Fire top scorer Hugo Cuypers missed his second game after the birth of his son.

UP NEXT

Montreal: Hosts the San Jose Earthquakes next Saturday.

Chicago: Hosts Toronto FC next Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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