After failing to show up for over half of the game, the Edmonton Oilers somehow squeezed out a big 4-2 win against the @Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.
Edmonton’s woes against bad teams continued early on Thursday night and many, myself included, had figured the game had gone by the wayside at the end of the second. Despite having a goal, Edmonton looked near lifeless against a Canadiens team that had been on a seven-game winless skid ahead of the game.
But somehow, the Oilers decided to show up in an exciting third period that saw them score three goals and ride off to victory.
Kris Russell played one of the worst games I’ve seen in recent memory having been caught well out of position staring on both of the Canadiens goals. He was one of the darkest spots in what was a bad night for many, including Jujhar Khaira who looked out of place all night. The Oilers third line of Joakim Nygard, Riley Sheahan and Josh Archibald were rock solid for the Oilers generating opportunities on the rush and accounted for the Oilers first goal of the game — the one that really kicked things off.
Mike Smith was everything and more for the Oilers despite giving up goals he probably wished he could get back. He posted a .946 save percentage — his second in three games over .900. He’s done a good job in the New Year keeping Edmonton in some big games that have helped them jump out to a 3-0-1 record in 2020.
Edmonton will now close out their five-game road trip Saturday night with an 8 p.m. matchup against the Calgary Flames.
After a relatively uneventful first two minutes, the Habs got a powerplay chance at the 17:45 mark after Alex Chiasson grabbed and held the stick of Brett Kulak as they battled for position at the Oilers blue line. Inexplicably, Montreal somehow managed to clear the offensive zone twice as errant passes toward the blue line missed their marks.
Montreal pushed the pace early on outshooting Edmonton 6-1 until at the 11:40 mark, Jeff Petry took a holding call after getting wrapped up with a streaking Leon Draisaitl. Two shots came from the Oilers, but none found the back of the net.
Despite being outshot early, Edmonton did a great job in limited them to low danger areas without giving up any big opportunities. @Joakim Nygard got Edmonton’s best chance of the game thus far with a solid wraparound chance where he used his speed, but it was unfortunately for naught as Montreal scored moments later.
With 7:25, the Habs got themselves on the board Phillip Danault took a shot from between the hash marks that was kicked out by Mike Smith, but he was able to corral his own rebound and slide it past the Oilers goalie. Caleb Jones had took the body on Tomas Tatar, as he should have, while Kris Russell was caught stationary and reaching as Danault took both shots without much contention. 1-0 Habs.
James Neal had the best chance for the Oilers late in the first when he nearly deflected a Connor McDavid pass past Carey Price.
All in all, Edmonton was lucky to exit the first period down only 1-0. Montreal clearly came to play early, outshooting the Oilers 14-6 by the end of the first frame.
Edmonton came out of the gate with some jump to start the second and was capped off with solid chances from Neal and Kailer Yamamoto but shortly after, Montreal extended their lead.
Russell and Jones once again got caught stationary and staring as Montreal scored 2:24 into the second frame. Artturi Lehkonen came into the offensive zone on the left half-wall catching Russell in an awkward reaching stationary position as he fed a cross-ice pass to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who made no mistake finding twine. While Jones was caught in an awkward spot, he also had to respect the extra Canadien pushing him back. 2-0 Habs.
The OIlers bottom-six came up big as with just over 12 minutes left in the second, Joakim Nygard won a big board battle and flipped a quick pass to Riley Sheahan in the slot who made no mistake in picking the top corner over Carey Price’s shoulder. 2-1 Habs.
The goal seemed to wake up the Oilers a little bit who began to pick up their pace. The Nygard-Sheahan-Josh Archibald line began to lead the way with another great chance moments later.
Gaetan Haas, @Adam Larsson and Klefbom somehow all got caught staring at Brendan Gallagher with minutes left in the second allowing the Hab to thread a pass through all three and onto a streaking Nate Thompson. With only Mike Smith to beat, Thompson made a quick move to beat Smith, but somehow hit the post.
It was a near-perfect encapsulation of what the Oilers game had been like and much like the first, the Oilers were lucky to only be down by one goal.
Oilers head coach Dave Tippett kept the lines together to start the third period and Edmonton came out firing once again with a fantastic Yamamoto chance at the side of the net. The shifty forward, however, couldn’t find the back of the net.
Edmonton got themselves a powerplay chance after McDavid drew a hooking call 1:37 into the period. If there was a time for the Oilers to score and get back into the game, it was on this chance and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made no mistake finding twine for his 10th of the year.
Leon Draisaitl threw a cross-ice pass from the right half-wall all the way across the ice to Connor McDavid, who hot potato’d the puck to Nugent-Hopkins in the bumper position in the high slot. Tic-tac-toe and it’s all of a sudden 2-2.
Edmonton continued to push the pace as the third period went on. Seemingly having finally showed up, the Oilers got their first lead in the game with just over 10 minutes left in the third. Oscar Klefbom walked from the blue line down the left boards and floated a quick pass to the high slot where Alex Chiasson was to deflect the puck home. 3-2 Oilers.
Kris Russell’s bad night continued with just over nine minutes in the third when he took a sloppy hooking penalty leaving the Oilers a man short. But fear not, the Oilers rock solid penalty kill kept up as they were able to limit any Canadiens chances at bay.
The Oilers capped off the game with a Josh Archibald empty-net goal with 35 seconds left to secure the win.
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.
