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Edmonton Oilers fall to Calgary Flames 4-3 – Oilers Nation

Published

5 years ago

January 12, 2020

Ah, a meaningful Battle of Alberta. Before the puck was even on the ice for this one we all knew how big it was and this one was much more than a simple BoA. It was a game that would have serious implications on how the season plays out.

And the Calgary Flames were the ones who came out on top moving into first place in the Pacific Division with their 4-3 win.

In fact, there’s only been two Battle of Alberta’s that have been this important this late in the season. The first was Jan. 13, 1988 — an Oilers win, and Feb. 25, 1990 — a Flames win. And tonight’s match had all the fireworks of a late ’80’s battle. It had the high-scoring prowess. Look at the scoreboard.

And boy, did it have the antics. Just look at the penalty sheet.

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Most notably from tonight was that the @Zack Kassain – Matthew Tkachuk rivalry continued to rage. Early in the game Tkachuk caught Kassian with a hip check to the head area that sent the Oilers forward flying. Nothing came of it at the time, but Kassian kept Tkachuk’s number.

When the gritty Flames forward took another run at Kassian late in the second, things got out of hand. Kassian erupted trying to fight Tkachuk, but the Calgary Flame wanted none of it. On a subsequent penalty kill early in the third, the Flames scored in what was the ultimate dagger in the game. Edmonton had more than enough time in the third period — which included a late powerplay followed by time with an empty net — to get themselves back into it.

All in all, there’s still more to come out of what happened between Tkachuk and Kassian. I’d wonder if the NHL player safety would take a look at the first Tkachuk hit on Kassian as there was clear contact between Tkachuk’s hip and Kassian’s head. Kassian very well could face some kind of discipline for his antics.

What I do know, however, is that the Oilers played a strong game against a bitter rival further igniting what has been a rather tame Battle of Alberta for some time. These two teams square off again January 29th.

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That should be fun.

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The Oilers got early returns for their decision to start Mikko Koskinen. The big Finn shut the door multiple times for the Oilers in the first few minutes of the period to keep it a scoreless game.

The first few minutes had that playoff feel, but it was clear that Calgary was ready for it. Edmonton, not so much. Elias Lindholm broke the scoring with a quick spinning, no-look shot that somehow found its way through Koskinen’s five-hole. 1-0 Flames.

And Edmonton got one of their own back 1:03 later when Kailer Yamamoto had a gorgeous cross-ice feed to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who fired a shot last Cam Talbot. 1-1.

Connor McDavid. What more can you say. The superstar snagged a puck away from a punching Noah Hanifin and used his incredible breakaway speed to give him a one-on-one with Cam Talbot. McDavid made a quick move to put the puck upstairs surely giving Talbot some nightmares to come. 2-1 Oilers.

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But the battle didn’t stop there. With only 40 seconds left in the frame, Johnny Gaudreau bought himself some time taking a long wrist shot from the top of the left circle (that may have taken a bounce of Adam Larsson) and beyond Mikko Koskinen. 2-2 to end the first.

The Oilers finally had a soft goal go in their direction. Yeah, you read that right. The Oilers got their third goal of the game to regain the lead a minute and a half into the second period when the team capitalized on Gaudreau blowing a tire in his own zone. Yamamoto was there to snag the puck and whip it across the ice to a streaking Nugent-Hopkins, whose shot deflected off the skate of Gaudreau and past Talbot. 3-2 Oilers.

After forgetting to show up for the first half of the second period, the Flames scored an ugly goal of their own with a little over eight minutes left in the period. A weird bounce turned the puck over in the Oilers own zone and while Koskinen was able to make a quick first save, Dillon Dube was able to smack home the rebound. 3-3.

With five and a quarter left in the second, the Oilers should have had the fourth goal of the game. James Neal broke in on the left of Talbot firing a quick wrist shot, but the Flames netminder was able to get across and make a blocker save.

Things got hairy with a few minutes left int he frame. For the second time tonight, Matthew Tkachuk laid a questionable hit on Zack Kassian and well, things got ugly. Kassian grabbed Tkachuk and didn’t stop swinging as he ragdolled Tkachuk to the ice. The Flames forward refused to fight back, and Kassian was handed a 10-minute misconduct and a four-minute double minor for roughing.

the two Tkachuk hits that led to said ragdolling: pic.twitter.com/qzzLMSUgCm

— Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL) January 12, 2020

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If you had hopes that the Oilers would bail out Kassian for his penalty, you were wrong. Calgary had under two minutes of powerplay time and Elias Lindholm found twine on a long wrist shot. 4-3 Flames.

The third period felt rather uneventful with no goals scored, nor any further antics between the two clubs.

On Twitter: @zjlaing

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
04:04	Calgary	Elias Lindholm (19) ASST: Andrew Mangiapane (8), Matthew Tkachuk (24)	0-1
05:07	Edmonton	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (11) ASST: Kailer Yamamoto (2), Leon Draisaitl (45)	1-1
09:06	Edmonton	Connor McDavid (25) ASST: Ethan Bear (12)	2-1
19:19	Calgary	Johnny Gaudreau (13) ASST: Sean Monahan (22), Noah Hanifin (9)	2-2

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
01:24	Edmonton	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (12) ASST: Kailer Yamamoto (3)	3-2
11:34	Calgary	Dillon Dube (4) ASST: Derek Ryan (16)	3-3

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
00:39	Calgary	Elias Lindholm (20) ASST: Mark Giordano (16), Johnny Gaudreau (25)	3-4

PENALTY SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS
No Penalties

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS
18:06	Edmonton	Zack Kassian – Misconduct – 10 minutes
18:06	Edmonton	Zack Kassian – Roughing – 4 minutes, Served by Joakim Nygard

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS
11:25	Calgary	Noah Hanifin – Interference – 2 minutes

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

___

AP NHL:

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

5 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

5 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

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

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