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NHL playoffs: Maple Leafs force Game 7 vs Bruins – CP24

Published

5 months ago

May 2, 2024

Harry Miller

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

Published Thursday, May 2, 2024 10:43PM EDT

Last Updated Thursday, May 2, 2024 11:17PM EDT

TORONTO – William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.

Toronto has now won two straight – including Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime victory in Game 5 – after falling behind their Original Six rival 3-1 to force a winner-take-all finale Saturday in Boston. Morgan Rielly had two assists.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who also blew a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers in last spring’s first round before losing in Game 7 following a record-setting regular season. Morgan Geekie scored ruined Woll’s shutout with 0.1 seconds left.

The Leafs were minus Auston Matthews for a second straight elimination contest after the star centre was pulled from Game 4 with an illness and then missed Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime victory at TD Garden that kept Toronto alive.

The winner of Leafs-Bruins will take on the well-rested Florida Panthers, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in that series, in the second round.

Nylander snapped a 0-0 tie with 54.8 seconds left in the middle period with some of his patented Swedish style. The slick winger took a pass from Timothy Liljegren in the offensive zone before weaving away from his check and firing a shot that glanced off Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy in front and beat Swayman on the shortside.

The goal set off wild celebrations inside an electric Scotiabank Arena – and outside the rink as Maple Leaf Square turned into a mosh pit of blue and white.

Leafs captain John Tavares had a great chance that whistled just wide before Woll went to work. After a shot pinballed just wide with the Bruins buzzing, the rookie goaltender made a huge stop with the glove on Charlie Coyle in tight to raucous approval.

Boston continued to press, but Toronto made it 2-0 with 2:13 left in regulation when Nylander moved in alone after taking a pass from Matthew Knies and slid a backhand between Swayman’s pads to send the series back to Beantown tied 3-3.

Geekie scored with 0.1 to spoil Woll’s first career shutout.

The Leafs battled back from 3-1 deficits against Boston in 2013 and 2018 before losing in seven.

Toronto held a 3-2 lead against the Bruins in 2019, but then dropped two straight for a third series loss against Boston in seven years.

The Leafs, who led 12-2 on the shot clock after the first period of Game 5, came out flying again Thursday with a couple good chances in a physical opening 20 minutes that saw the teams combine for 48 hits.

Toronto’s power play had some decent looks on its first opportunity, but dropped to 1-for-18 in the series before Knies – Tuesday’s OT hero – had a great chance on Swayman’s doorstep at the buzzer as the home side outshot Boston 21-1.

Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe had a terrific look from the slot early in the second before Boston star David Pastrnak took a double-minor for high-sticking, but Toronto again could get nothing going with the man advantage.

The Bruins finally registered their second shot more than 27 minutes into the game, and Woll had to be sharp on a couple Pastrnak efforts and a Jake DeBrusk chance.

Toronto’s under-fire penalty kill – with six goals against in 14 chances these playoffs coming into Thursday – held firm later in the period.

Woll had to make two big stops with the teams back even off McAvoy’s stick to set the stage for Nylander at the other end.

STANDING WOLL

The 25-year-old became the first goaltender in NHL history to have each of his first four career playoff starts come in potential elimination games. Thatcher Demko (2020), Michael Hutchinson (2020) and Manny Fernandez (2003) are the only other netminders to have their first three starts come in win-or-go home contests.

REAVO SITS

Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves was a healthy scratch. Toronto winger Noah Gregor saw his first action of the series.

HEINEN ABSENT

The Bruins were without forward Danton Heinen. Head coach Jim Montgomery said following Boston’s morning skate he’s listed as day-to-day. John Beecher took Heinen’s spot in the lineup.

Veteran defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk returned to the fold after being replaced by Matt Grzelyk in Game 5.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.

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Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.

Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.

World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.

The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.

Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.

The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.

Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively

Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.

It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.

Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.

The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.

Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.

The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.

Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.

San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.

Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.

Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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