Wretched luck doomed the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday. It was Edmonton’s second tough loss in a row in Florida.
In both games, Edmonton gave up early two-goal leads and lost the game. But this loss had more to do with horrid bounces than any lack of effort or mental mistakes. Newcomer Calvin Pickard was sharp, even as he let in five goals.
In total, when it came to Grade A shots (which go in 25% of the time on average), Edmonton had 12, Florida 16, with the subset of 5-alarm shots (which go in 33% of the time), Edmonton seven, Florida 11.
Connor McDavid, 8. He pulled a Draisaitl, ripping in his own version of the Executioner’s Shot, pounding in a one-timer from near the sideboards and on the goal line. He made great passes on an early power play, but Hyman, then Draisaitl could not score. Next set up Bouchard for a 5-alarmer early in the second, but again no red light moment. He and Draisaitl got twisted and turned around, allowing a pass and 5-alarm shot in the second. After getting hauled down on a rush, he calmly drained a penalty shot. He got banged up and beat up, but kept at it. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-2; Special Teams +2, 0.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 3. Not delivering just now. His turnover led a Grade A shot against late in the third. He won just two out of 12 faceoffs. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST +0/-0.
Zach Hyman, 5. Hustling effort this game. He slammed a 5-alarm slot shot on net on a first period power play but failed to drain it. Then came some bad luck, Hyman breaking his stick in his own end, then when the Oil won the puck and were breaking out, Ekholm hit Hyman with it as #18 went to the bench for a new stick, kicking off the Sequence of Pain. He failed to score on a 5-alarm shot in the third. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +1/-0.
Warren Foegele, 4. Quiet night by his standards, though some good hustle. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.
Derek Ryan, 5. His excellent pass hit Kane in stride in the slot and Kane delivered on the strike. He lost a battle and fell down, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on Florida’s first goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.
Adam Erne, 4. Quiet. Too quiet. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-0.
James Hamblin, 5. Solid screen in the second led to Kulak’s shot off the post. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.
Darnell Nurse, 3. Rough game for Nurse, who has been played well lately. He screened Pickard on Florida’s first goal. His starfish slide and stick whip snapped the puck past Pickard for the third Florida goal, a wicked own goal. He got beat for a Grade A shot by Tkachuk late in the second. He created a 2-on-1 against early in the third, but cleaned up his own mess. He allowed Rodrigues in behind him for a breakway in the third. GAS: ES +1/-5; ST +0/-0.
Evan Bouchard, 5. Dangerous on the attack, dangerous on defence. His pinch was essential to McDavid’s early goal. He failed to drain a McD slot pass in the second. He sent in McDavid on a rush that led to his penalty shot. He was caught flat-footed and slow-moving on the fourth Florida goal. He made a solid defensive stop to prevent an empty net goal against. GAS: ES +4/-3; ST +0/-0.
Vincent Desharnais, 4. He got into a fight with an aggressive Florida forward, Gadjovich, who got too feisty around the Oilers net. His lost battle in the corner led to a 5-alarm shot and near goal against late in the second. Providing little if anything on the attack. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-0.
Brett Kulak. 6. More high even than usual but more good than bad. Nasty turnover on Ekblad’s early 5-alarm shot. He put one off the post through a Hamblin screen in the second. He lost a battle in front of the net to Sam Bennett, leading to a 5-alarm shot. He made a key block and won a slot battle in the third, giving his team some hope. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST +0/-0.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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