CALGARY – The way the Vancouver Canucks started the National Hockey League season, it looked like they’d be out of the playoff race by Christmas.
Instead, they survived until the final week of the regular season. Barely and mostly in theory, but they made it.
Drained by the relentless, four-month sprint to catch up in the Western Conference standings, the Canucks lost their third straight game on Saturday, 6-3 to the Calgary Flames. The result, combined with the Dallas Stars’ 3-2 comeback win at home against the Seattle Kraken, left the Canucks six points out of the final wildcard playoff spot with three games to play.
Dallas is the only team in the race with fewer regulation wins than Vancouver, so if the Stars lose their final three games and the Canucks sweep contests against the Kraken, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver could still get in.
But the Canucks also need to pass the Vegas Golden Knights, who are two points ahead and play the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. If the Knights win, the Canucks will be mathematically eliminated Tuesday when Vegas visits Dallas because someone has to win that game.
The Canucks will miss the Stanley Cup tournament for the sixth time in seven years.
“It’s been a hard push and we didn’t get where we wanted to go,” coach Bruce Boudreau, whose hiring in December marked a dramatic turning point in the Canucks’ season, told reporters after the game. “So I’m disappointed. We pushed from Dec. 5 until now, and I expect us for the next three games to keep pushing again. But, I mean, our ultimate goal is probably not going to be reached.
“Not to make excuses, but it is difficult to get up, and emotionally up, for every game. It’s what makes the playoffs special because you can do it for short periods of time. We’ve had to do it every single game (since Dec. 5) and sometimes it works and sometimes you get the inconsistencies. But it will make them better for next year for sure. They’ll know the consistency that they have to have from Day 1 to Day 82.”
The Canucks started the season 6-14-2, and are 32-16-9 since.
They’ve finally run out of both energy and time. They weren’t able to generate any pressure on Saturday until they trailed the Flames 2-0.
“It would have been nice to have a better start to the season and not be in this position,” Canucks defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “But we battled so hard to get back to this spot and we’re not going to quit now. We’re going to show up for these last three games and play our heart out.
“I would rather be in Calgary’s position; that’s not a lie. But I’m so proud of that group that we have in there. We never quit, never give up in any games or any point in the season, even when we were far behind in the beginning. And I don’t see us doing that the last couple of games here.”
Twenty-one points ahead of the Canucks, the Flames have been toning their playoff muscles, secure at the top of the Pacific Division.
They are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, and seemed to exert their will when needed on Saturday.
After record-setting Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes scored at 18:46 of the second period, Conor Garland batted in Tyler Myers’ airborne goalmouth pass to tie it 2-2 at 5:36 of the third. But only 14 seconds later, ex-Canuck Chris Tanev’s point shot caromed in off the skate of Flames’ teammate Brett Ritchie.
Then Dillon Dube scored on a two-on-one at 13:33 as Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko retreated into his net on a two-on-one after Luke Schenn’s turnover. And Flames’ defenceman Nikita Zadorov was credited with a goal 12 seconds later when Myers tried to play goaltender at the top of the crease but eventually scuffed the puck behind his own netminder.
Demko allowed five goals on 31 shots, the third straight game in which the Canucks’ MVP didn’t look like himself. It was also his 64th game of the season – 29 more than his “career high” last season.
“He might be tiring,” Boudreau said. “But, I mean, he’s been so good for us. And when you’re desperate, you have to gamble. When you gamble, you have to play your best at all times. I felt comfortable every time we put him in the net. He’s a great goalie that’s only going to get better.”
By the time Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks with 2:25 remaining on a bar-down laser past Flames goalie Dan Vladar, it was largely irrelevant. But Hughes’ assist on the goal meant something.
It was the 22-year-old’s 56th assist of the season, breaking Dennis Kearns’ 45-year-old franchise record for helpers by a Canucks defenceman, and also allowed Hughes to tie Doug Lidster’s all-time points record of 63, set in 1987.
“It’s just unbelievable what he does on the ice,” Ekman-Larsson marvelled. “That’s the guy you want on the back end to build your team around, so we’ve got that locked in. And a lot of other pieces, too.”
“He’s a special player,” Boudreau agreed. “But he’s going to break that record. . . five different times. Every year, he’s going to get better and he’s going to keep breaking it. It’s something that he’ll say, ‘That’s OK, that’s cool.’ But he knows he’s going to do a lot better in the future.”
For another summer, the Canucks will be hoping for the same thing.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
