Artturi Lehkonen had a pair of goals Saturday night in the Montreal Canadiens’ 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators to extend their win streak to five games, but everyone was talking about Andrew Hammond.
Hammond stopped 26 shots for the Canadiens in his return to the Canadian Tire Centre after playing 55 games for the Senators between 2014 and 2016. The 34-year-old is best known for his outstanding run to the playoffs in 2015 where he posted a 20-1-2 record.
Hammond was traded to Colorado in 2017 and has been playing in the American Hockey League for the most part until he was traded to Montreal (13-33-7) a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend he played his first game in the NHL in nearly four years.
Fans in Ottawa clearly haven’t forgotten about the “Hamburglar,” as he was known, and threw burgers on the ice following a video tribute.
“I have no animosity or anything like that towards them, but I think it’s natural any time you’re playing your former team, you’d like to win,” said Hammond. “Obviously, very happy that we were able to do that tonight. Just a really, I thought, grinding game by us. You’ve got to win lots of different ways. It was fun to be a part of.
“They came in waves at times, but for the most part I think we kept them to the outside and made my job very easy.”
There are only a couple of Senators left who played with Hammond and Colin White, who scored the lone goal for Ottawa (19-27-5), was one of them.
“It’s great to see him back in the NHL,” said White. “He’s doing great and played a great game.”
It was a momentous evening for White as well, as he made his season debut after suffering a dislocated shoulder in pre-season against Toronto on Oct. 4.
“I felt good, it just felt like another hockey game,” he said. “I was a bit nervous and excited going into it, no nap today, but it felt pretty good to get out there and just playing hockey.
“I just went out there and had fun today and (Connor Brown) made an unreal play and made it a little bit easier for me and it was just super exciting for me to score that.”
White scored on the power play early in the second period after Brown made a great pass out front.
The Senators found themselves short-handed before the game even started as both Thomas Chabot and Nikita Zaitsev were deemed unable to play just prior to warm-up. It was not COVID-19 related. That left Ottawa playing with just five defencemen.
“When you’ve got five ‘D’ you’ve got to play with a certain set of rules and we had some guys do it and some didn’t and we didn’t give our ‘D’ enough of a breather,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “Give them credit because they played hard.”
The win allowed the Canadiens to extend their winning streak to five games. Players seem to be buying into new head coach Martin St. Louis and it’s paying off.
“When you have a new coach, I think you’ll see that early on guys want to show you that they’re a team-first guy,” said St. Louis. “I feel like we’ve gotten better and better and better and we’re doing it consistently now.
“We come to work, take care of the team, play the game the right way. You’re going to be in a lot of games. You don’t know if you’re going to score all the goals or get all the saves, but at the end of the day, you’ve given yourself a really good chance to win if you’ve played that way.”
Montreal opened the scoring late in the first at 16:47 as Lehkonen was able to get the better of Victor Mete in front of the net and grab Ben Chiarot’s rebound for his eighth of the season.
After White’s power-play goal Montreal regained the lead late in the second period as Lehkonen scored his second of the game with a slapshot from the high slot at 14:21.
“We’re trying to stay on top of guys, force other teams to make mistakes,” said Lehkonen. “As of now, we’re getting a bit of swagger. Confidence is a huge thing in this league.”
Ottawa had chances in the third, but just couldn’t find a way to beat Hammond who made some key saves.
“Just give them credit,” said Smith. “Defensively, and five guys back all night, they didn’t give up odd-man rushes and the goalie made the saves when he had to.”
NOTES: Ottawa has played 12 games in February, the most in the NHL … Mathieu Perreault returned to the Montreal lineup for his first game since Dec. 14 when he suffered a lower-body injury.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2022.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
