VANCOUVER — Tyler Motte had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks bounced back with a decisive 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
Travis Hamonic, Vasily Podkolzin, Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Canucks (24-22-6), while Juho Lahmmikko, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller each contributed a pair of assists.
Jared McCann — playing in his 400th NHL game — and Mark Giordano replied for the Kraken (16-32-4), who dropped their fourth game in a row.
Vancouver was coming off an ugly 7-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, but is 6-3-1 in its last 10 outings.
Thatcher Demko stopped 25-of-27 shots for the Canucks and Kraken goalie Chris Driedger made a season-high 41 saves. Vancouver’s 46 shots was also a season high.
Pearson put away an empty-net strike with 92 seconds left on the clock to seal the score at 5-2. The goal drew chants of “Bruce, there it is!” from the crowd in tribute to Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Seattle got a prime chance to cut into the deficit late in the third when Vancouver’s Matthew Highmore was called for interference after toppling Morgan Geekie in the neutral zone.
The best shot of the man advantage came from the Canucks when Motte picked off a pass, orchestrating a two-on-one with J.T. Miller, only to see Miller’s shot stymied by Driedger’s pad.
Vancouver came into the final frame on a power play after Alex Wennberg was called for slashing late in the second.
Horvat was quick to use the man advantage, scoring just 35 seconds into the third. Miller sliced a pass to the Canucks captain from along the boards and Horvat sent a rocket soaring past Driedger.
Vancouver was 1 for 4 with the man advantage Monday, while Seattle failed to score on four power plays.
The Canucks came into the second with renewed fervour and outshot the Kraken 18-4 across the period.
Stationed at the side of the net, Podkolzin restored Vancouver’s lead 16:41 into the frame. Quinn Hughes’ initial shot hit Adam Larsson in the crease and Podkolzin quickly capitalized, batting in the lose puck to make it 3-2.
It was the Russian rookie’s first goal since Jan. 1 and he celebrated with a double fist pump.
Hamonic buried his first goal of the season earlier in the frame and the 200th point of his NHL career. The defenceman fired a blast into a sliver of space between Driedger and the post to knot the score at 2-2.
Seattle took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission thanks to Giordano’s short-handed tally.
With Vince Dunn in the box for interference, the veteran defenceman beat Pettersson to a pass in the Canucks end and zipped up the slot, sending a shot in over Demko’s stick 14:26 into the opening frame.
Fans were still filtering into Rogers Arena when Vancouver opened the scoring just 11 seconds into the game.
Lahmmikko picked up the puck behind Seattle’s net and fed Motte from below the goal line. The centreman jammed a wrist shot past Driedger and put the Canucks up 1-0 with his sixth goal of the year.
Motte’s goal was the quickest an NHL player has scored this season, topping the tally L.A. Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson put in the back of the net 12 seconds into a battle against the Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day.
The Kraken drew level 3:12 into the game off a two-on-one rush. Marcus Johansson carried the puck up the ice and dished it across the top of the crease to McCann, who was waiting back door for the easy tap it.
McCann’s 21st goal of the season came against the team that drafted him 24th overall back in 2014.
The Canucks will close out a three-game homestand Thursday against the surging Calgary Flames. The Kraken host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
NOTES: Miller extended his point streak to four games, with seven points (two goals, five assists) across the stretch. … Giordano now leads all active NHL defencemen in short-handed goals with 11 over his career. … Vancouver recalled defenceman Madison Bowey from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Monday marked the Kraken’s first-ever regular-season game in Vancouver.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
