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Gaudreau gets SO winner; Flames beat Jets in thriller – TSN

Published

4 years ago

February 2, 2021

WINNIPEG — Johnny Gaudreau put in a little extra work to keep his hot start going.

The winger scored in regulation to extend a season-opening point streak to eight games before sealing Calgary’s shootout victory Monday as the Flames beat Winnipeg 4-3.

After Sean Monahan buried one for Calgary and Kyle Connor responded for the Jets, Gaudreau wove into the offensive zone and performed a series of dekes that tied Connor Hellebuyck in knots for the winning margin in the fourth round.

On the heels of the worst offensive output of his career in 2019-20 — 58 points in 70 games — the 27-year-old Gaudreau already has six goals and four assists in this pandemic-shortened campaign.

“I feel really comfortable,” he said. “Me and (Monahan) are playing really good in our defensive zone. We’re being smart. I don’t think we’ve been out on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal (against).

“And we’re getting our chances offensively.”

Flames head coach Geoff Ward said Gaudreau’s details in his own end and Calgary’s success on the power play, which runs though the diminutive forward, have been crucial to the early success.

“He’s having fun, he’s smiling coming to the rink,” Ward said. “When he gets time and space with the puck he can usually do good things.

“It’s been a great start.”

Andrew Mangiapane and Christopher Tanev — on a fluke goal from inside his own blue line — also scored in regulation for Calgary (4-3-1). Jacob Markstrom turned aside 25 shots, while Elias Lindholm had two assists.

Markstrom, who left the Vancouver Canucks for the Flames in free agency, made a couple big saves in overtime before denying three Jets in the shootout, including a desperation toe stop on Blake Wheeler that had the big netminder grinning under his mask.

“He’s been our best player by far this season, hands down,” Gaudreau said of Markstrom. “Great signing for us, huge pickup for us.

“He’s crazy back there.”

Connor, with two on the power play, and Mark Scheifele, with a goal and an assist, replied for Winnipeg (5-3-1), which got 25 saves from Hellebuyck. Wheeler added three assists as the Jets blew a 2-0 lead before battling back to tie things late in the third period to at least grab a point.

“We’ve got to be better,” Scheifele said. “We’ve got to stick to our game. We can’t sit back. We’ve got to keep being aggressive.”

But it was the Flames on the front foot down 2-1 in the third as Gaudreau tied things at 6:54 when he redirected a feed from Juuso Valimaki past Hellebucyk after the Jets turned the puck over.

The Winnipeg netminder made a great stick save on Lindholm midway through the period to keep things level on a play that resulted in a Flames man advantage the Jets would kill off. Hellebuyck followed that up by stoning Mangiapane before Tanev hit the post as Calgary came in waves.

“You could tell the ice kind of tilted,” Gaudreau said. “We had four, five, six really good chances to make it 3-2.”

Then after hitting the crossbar off the rush, Mangiapane banged home a rebound with 6:15 left in regulation for his first to give the Flames a 3-2 lead.

“The puck was just sitting in front of the net,” said Mangiapane, who had a career-high 17 goals in 2019-20. “Happy to tap it home.”

But the Jets tied things with 1:50 remaining when Scheifele tipped Neal Pionk‘s point shot beyond Markstrom’s glove for his fourth with Hellebuyck on the bench for an extra attacker.

The game marked the first of three straight meetings between the North Division rivals at Bell MTS Place this week, with the next two set for Tuesday and Thursday. The Jets will actually play four in a row against the Flames over a nine-day stretch, while Calgary hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday before resuming hostilities with Winnipeg at Scotiabank Saddledome two nights later.

Coming off Saturday’s 4-1 home loss against Vancouver, the Jets shuffled their top-6 forward group, with Scheifele centring Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers, while Paul Stastny skated between Connor and Wheeler.

The Flames, meanwhile, secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory in Montreal over the Canadiens on Saturday that snapped a three-game slide thanks to Markstrom’s second shutout of the season.

Winnipeg, which lost 3-1 to Calgary during the summer restart’s qualifying round, took the season opener for both clubs 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 14 courtesy of Patrik Laine‘s winner — the sniper’s last action with the team before he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets along with Jack Roslovic for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick nine days later.

The Jets opened the scoring at 4:31 of Monday’s first period on a man advantage when Connor, who entered without a point in his last three games, wired his fifth upstairs on Markstrom.

Winnipeg carried the bulk of the play throughout the opening 20 minutes, and doubled the lead on another man advantage at 13:46 when Connor one-timed his seventh from almost the exact same spot.

The visitors settled down in the intermission and got a lucky break to cut the deficit in half seven seconds into the second when Tanev’s attempted breakaway pass from inside his own zone skipped in front of Hellebucyk and fooled the reigning Vezina Trophy winner for the shutdown defenceman’s first with Calgary.

“It went through a few legs and sticks, and obviously took a fortunate bounce,” said Tanev, who also signed with Calgary after leaving Vancouver. “I will take any goal I can get.”

Winnipeg had a great chance early in the third, but Markstrom robbed Scheifele with the glove. The Jets sniper the came close a second time later in the period on a power play only to see his shot chime off the post before Gaudreau equalized moments later.

“We were a little slow coming out,” Ward said. “There’s a saying that after an emotional win, which we had in Montreal, the next game is often hard to get into.

“But I give our guys a lot of credit for the way that they regrouped.”

With Gaudreau once again leading the charge.

Notes: Jets centre Adam Lowry saw a six-game point streak (four goals, four assists) come to an end. … Dubois remains unavailable for Winnipeg as he continues to serve a two-week quarantine after crossing the Canada-U.S. border shortly after the deal with Columbus was finalized.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2021.

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

Published

5 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.

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

Published

6 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).

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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

6 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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