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In the Habs' Room: 'We were not good enough to win,' Julien says – Montreal Gazette

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5 years ago

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Top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak dominated play, with Pastrnak scoring a hat trick in the Bruins’ 4-1 win.

BOSTON — The Bruins showed why they have the best record in the National Hockey League as they defeated the Canadiens 4-1 Wednesday night at TD Garden.

“Their best players were their best players,” coach Claude Julien said. “A lot of people say that it’s always the same line on this team that scores but if they do it every night, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Julien was referring to the line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. They accounted for all the Boston goals with Pastrnak taking over the NHL goal-scoring lead with a hat trick, boosting his season total to 41. Bergeron added an empty-netter and an assist, while Marchand had two assists.

“You have to limit their rush chances,” said defenceman Marco Scandella. “If you give them rush chances, especially that top line, they made us pay.”


Canadiens goaltender Carey Price keeps an eye on Bruins’ Brad Marchand and the loose puck during the second period Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston.

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Pastrnak’s first two goals came off the rush after the Canadiens turned the puck over and his third came on a power play.

Scandella said Pastrnak has the “total package.”

“He’s fast, he has a great shot, good hands,” Scandella said. “That line has a way of finding each other out there and we have to do a better job of containing them.”

While the Bruins top players were delivering, Julien suggested that he expected more from some of his players.

“We need guys to step up there and score some big goals for us,” Julien said. “We have guys who are supposed to be able to do that for us and they have to step up.”

The lone Montreal goal was credited to rookie Nick Suzuki after Scandella’s shot from the blue line glanced off his hip.

The Canadiens were outshot 38-29 and Julien said that was part of the problem.


Bruin’s David Pastrnak dominated the Canadiens with a three-goal performance Wednesday night.

Winslow Townson /

USA TODAY Sports

“At times, I thought we were playing fairly well and we had chances to shoot at the net and we looked for other plays,” Julien said. “We need to shoot the puck a little bit more. We need to go to the net more and probably be a little hungrier in that part of it. As for the rest, we did some good things and we were competing hard, but we were not good enough to win.”

“The only way we’re going to get better is to continue to play hard,” Julien added. “There are certain things we have to get better at and we put the emphasis on them. Tonight, I don’t think it was from a lack of effort.”

“They made it tough on us,” Brendan Gallagher said. “We weren’t able to counter enough to be around their goalie and, once they scored the first goal, they’re comfortable in this building.”

Gallagher praised linemate Phillip Danault, who was in the lineup after taking a puck to the face in Monday’s loss to Arizona. He lost some teeth and had stitches below his lip, but he played in every situation and won 50 per cent of his faceoffs with many of his wins coming at the expense of Bergeron.

Earlier in the day, the Canadiens announced captain Shea Weber will miss four to six weeks with a left ankle sprain. The diagnosis was made by Dr. Robert Anderson, an orthopedic surgeon in Green Bay. Anderson performed surgery on Weber to repair his broken left foot in 2018.

phickey@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/zababes1

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

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9 hours ago

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September 14, 2024

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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.

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

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September 13, 2024

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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.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

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September 13, 2024

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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.

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