However, it was still an interesting draw nonetheless. The usually secure and well-structured Carolina Hurricanes didn’t look too secure and structured throughout the game and wound up securing both points in a 5-4 shootout victory.
The Leafs and Hurricanes were even in shots with both teams having two power-play opportunities each. Toronto’s offense came from John Tavares, William Nylander and Nick Robertson, who scored in the opening half of the middle frame. Carolina answered back via Jordan Martinook and Seth Jarvis, who scored his 22nd of the season with three seconds left in the period. It looked like the two points were in the bag for the Leafs after David Kämpf scored on another breakaway to make it 4-2.
The luck of the Irish went Carolina’s way after Kämpf was called for hooking with 2:54 left in regulation. The Hurricanes took advantage of it as Sebastian Aho converted on the man advantage to make it 4-3. Carolina continued to push with its net empty and tied it late in the third, thanks to another goal from Aho.
Toronto outshot Carolina in overtime 6-2, but some of its best chances didn’t make it on net. Despite a dangerous-looking four-on-three power play, the game remained tied and went to the shootout. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped Nylander and Auston Matthews and went for an old-school lunge at Max Domi to keep the Leafs off the shootout scoreboard. Ilya Samsonov made saves on Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andrei Svechnikov, but Jake Guentzel beat him five-hole to win the game.
Three Stars
Ilya Samsonov
The Leafs did not dominate the Hurricanes by any means, and Samsonov had to make a lot of well-timed saves when their mistakes started to pile up.
Robertson is starting to make a pattern for himself as he now has three goals in returning games. He’s making a case to at least be an option in the playoffs, and this game could keep him in the lineup for the rest of the regular season.
All four of the Leafs’ goals had a common theme. They all started with a turnover in or by the neutral zone followed by a quick pass to head to the opposition’s end. TJ Brodie disrupted the zone entry ahead of the first goal and sent a quick pass down the ice to Tavares. Morgan Rielly had similar neutral zone plays off the Hurricanes’ turnovers in the neutral zone, finding Nylander and Kämpf with bank passes off the boards.
Robertson’s goal was more active on the Leafs’ end and will likely be another reason he stays in the lineup. He started by initiating contact on the puck carrier heading to Toronto’s end. Liljegren quickly got the loose puck and sailed it up for Tavares. Jaccob Slavin was on Tavares, so he turned to protect the puck and found Robertson breaking in with speed.
Ideally, you’d like more of the team’s goals to be these hard-working masterpieces, but simply having the skill to make a team pay for a mistake sprung the Leafs to that lead in the second.
The powerless play continues
The Leafs walked into this game with a single power-play goal in eight games and 20 total opportunities. Something has to give with the units, and Sheldon Keefe tried something new playing both Liljegren and Rielly with the top guys. Liljegren, as the right shot at the top, could be a good way to fill in the missing Mitch Marner void, while Rielly was along the left wall but was pretty fluid in the offensive zone.
Despite the changes, there still weren’t too many high-grade scoring chances, and the Hurricanes had little to do with it. The Leafs turned the puck over too often upon the zone entry and passed up on key chances when Carolina left a lane for them to take advantage of. Matthews had a lot of room on the left at one point, and no one got the puck to him.
It was much better in the third period as they sorted their timing out, but they still didn’t have anything to show for it.
Live penalties
It was such a bittersweet night to be a fan of the penalty kill because it had a lot of good momentum-changing moments. The kill via Matthew Knies’ tripping penalty was particularly strong and gave the Leafs the momentum to run away with the period. Connor Dewar, Bobby McMann and Nylander created a lot of scoring chances because of their speed and timing. But you can move the goal posts only so far without addressing the issue at hand.
Similar to the power play, the Leafs’ short-handed squad hasn’t been up to par lately. They’ve given up at least one power-play goal in the last three games and added two more to their tally Saturday with the opposition free by the side of the net.
McMann ascension
Keefe is starting to lean on McMann more. He not only saw a lot of penalty-killing time but also replaced Pontus Holmberg on the top line with Matthews in the third. His speed is still catching the opposition off guard, and he doesn’t hesitate to take those hard paths down the wall and cut to the front of the net. Don’t be surprised to see a McMann-Matthews-Marner line in the future.
Game Score
Final Grade: B
The Hurricanes really don’t like giving up more than three goals. They’ve held their opponent to two or fewer goals 21 times in 2024, so the Leafs putting four past them is noteworthy. It could’ve been more, and the Leafs had opportunities to get that fifth, sixth and, no hyperbole, seventh goal of the game. Losing a game like this and in this matter further reinforces the priorities the Leafs have to figure out in the next month. Both ends of their special teams need to improve, and Marner returning will help. You’re still getting scoring from up and down the lineup, though all four lines were outchanced and outshot at five-on-five. The Tyler Bertuzzi-Matthews-Holmberg line got the brunt of that lopsided stat.
At the end of the day, these are two playoff-bound teams. An iffy penalty call and a deflection extended the game.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
