EDMONTON – If there was ever any question the Flames would be ready for the last-gasp battle sure to be thrown their way, it was answered two seconds in.
Milan Lucic flexed his extensive playoff muscles by dropping the mitts off the opening draw with Nathan Beaulieu, scoring a decisive victory over the Jets defenceman.
After speaking the day earlier about proving to themselves and others they wouldn’t back down from the obvious push from a desperate and depleted Winnipeg club, they backed it up in every way.
Game on.
Just 20 minutes later, it was essentially game over, thanks largely to the efforts of Lucic and his third line.
A Flames team that promised it had learned valuable lessons from last year’s playoff meltdown demonstrated exactly that with an early lead, followed by a clinical shutdown they weren’t capable of during the Colorado Collapse of 2019.
Continuing the momentum built from a second-period scoring binge in Game 3, the Flames scored two in the first and then rolled over an injury-ravaged Jets team, blanketing them defensively with a far more mature and measured approach to finishing games.
Their undoing a year earlier was their strength a year later.
The final two periods included textbook attention to defensive details, and new-found discipline, as all four lines smothered the Jets, forcing shots from the perimeter.
There would be no Maple Leafs meltdown here at Rogers Place, where the Flames’ 4-0 win capped the best-of-five series in four games.
And while linemates Dillon Dube (first NHL playoff goal) and Sam Bennett (goal with .3 seconds left in the first) led the scoring parade before two late empty-netters, it was Lucic who helped the set the tone.
“I was lining up for the draw and he asked me (to fight) and I said, ‘Effin’ rights,’ and that’s what happened,” chuckled Lucic, who also had two great scoring chances and an assist as part of an evening that saw him let up on Beaulieu after knocking him to his knees.
“He’s trying to show they’re ready to play and they’re not going down without a fight, but for me you just want to show you’re ready to play and not going to back down to their push.”
The NHL record book may suggest the Flames accomplished very little by merely advancing to the first round of the playoffs against a yet-to-be determined opponent starting as early as Tuesday.
But don’t tell them that, as the hurdles facing a club that has only advanced in the playoffs in two of the past 16 years have haunted them for years.
Showing a killer instinct to end a series for the first time in five years, the west’s eighth-ranked squad is the NHL’s first Canadian team to gain a playoff berth this year.
The defensive focus coach Geoff Ward has stressed going into the playoffs was so evident that even Johnny Gaudreau made a key stop, hustling back to strip Jack Roslovic who was on a breakaway.
It all served to silence some critics who kept pointing to last year’s first round loss to the Avalanche as proof this team couldn’t rise to the occasion.
“Colorado is a great team and they have a lot of star power and speed, but we felt last year the big bodies sort of pushed us out of that series,” said captain Mark Giordano, who called it a big relief to advance in the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career. (Yes, you read that right).
“If you look at our team now that’s not going to happen with the way we’re built. We proved that this round and we have to continue to prove that going forward because when you look at the teams we could potentially match up against they’re all big and physical.”
On Thursday, Lucic’s third line with Dube and Bennett not only did all the first period scoring, but demonstrated a tenacity, discipline and maturity this team has longed for.
All part of a team effort every bit as complete as Game 3.
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“Being able to lock it down in this game is a big step for this group,” said Dube, 22, whose first NHL playoff goal came on one of his seven shots on the night.
“To be able to withstand their big push with the season on the line is huge for us.”
Cam Talbot’s 31-save shutout made him the only Flames goalie in team lore to blank the opposition in a clincher other than Miikka Kiprusoff, who blanked Detroit in 2004.
In a series that was supposed to be all about Connor Hellebuyck, Talbot was, by far, the better netminder in a duel against the likely Vezina winner.
No small task.
“We talked about the importance of defending this time of year and we did that extremely well – and whenever we had a breakdown Cam was there for us,” said Ward, who deemed his netminder the series MVP.
“That’s a huge step for us and it starts with Looch. I can’t say enough about what he brings in terms of experience. He’s a calming influence. He sets the tone off the opening draw there. I’ve seen him do this before, where he’s able to become this emotional leader for you and put a team on his back. I thought the fight settled us in and the guys got a big lift from it.”
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.
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.
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.
