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Andersen: Retaliating against Killorn for Leafs net crash would have been bad move – TSN

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs. The Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators.

Midway through the third period on Tuesday night, Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn crashed the crease, falling on Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, who had just corralled a loose puck. The six-foot-one, 197-pound Lightning forward didn’t appear to be all that interested in the puck. With the Leafs protecting a 2-1 lead, no Toronto player did anything to remove Killorn. 

The team watched video of the play before practice today and discussed what happened. Sheldon Keefe was asked if he wanted to see someone come to the goalie’s defence. 

“Yes and no,” the coach said. “You want someone to acknowledge it and speak up that it’s not acceptable but, at the same time, I really believe strongly that you can’t overreact to situations like that.”

“It’s all situational,” Andersen said. “I didn’t really see it happening. I was trying to battle for the puck, like, no real damage was happening so I think it would’ve been undisciplined to go after him and maybe take a two-minute penalty for something that didn’t really matter. That could hurt us even more.”

Keefe says his experience as a player has him informed how he views the matter. 

“I just don’t buy into the fact that you make a big scene and you overreact and someone’s going to say, ‘Oh, OK, I won’t do that anymore.’ That’s just not reality. I think that the players know what they’re doing, they’re pretty methodical about it, you have to trust the referees are going to protect the players on the ice and it’s our job to win the games on the power play and take advantage there.”

But while Blake Coleman was called for goalie interference earlier in the game, Killorn’s jump went unpenalized. 

“If they’re taking liberties and you know they’re bothering Freddie, you’re going to want to step in,” said defenceman Travis Dermott, “but it’s all situational. It’s just being smart about it.”

“We want to be standing up for each other,” said Keefe, “we’re a family and all that kind of stuff, but it’s very important, especially this time of year, that we remain composed.”

Keefe: Leafs were right to not overreact to Killorn jumping on Andersen

After Alex Killorn jumped on Frederik Andersen last night during a scramble in front, the question was asked whether the Leafs’ handled the situation correctly, or if they should have done something about it. Andersen, Travis Dermott and Sheldon Keefe give their perspective, as they believe they handled it right.

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Andersen spoke to the referee after the play and didn’t seem sold on the explanation – “He said the puck was loose” – but the Dane didn’t show any outward frustration. He didn’t allow it to shake his focus or unsettle the team. 

“It fired me up a little bit and I tried to play with an edge,” the 30-year-old said. 

Andersen ended the night strong stopping 32 of 33 shots overall as Toronto edged the highest-scoring team in the league. And while no one got in Killorn’s face, Andersen believes there was emotion in the team’s game ​and he says that has to continue. 

“There has to be emotion and some sort of feeling where you want to leave everything out there and … last game was great, we came out with fire right away and took the game to them.” 

It wasn’t long ago, after a blowout loss in Pittsburgh on Feb. 18, that Andersen admitted his focus wasn’t where it needed to be. He vowed to be better and has responded with a 5-1-1 run posting a .931 save percentage in that stretch. 

“At the end of the day, as a goalie, I’m not going to be the loudest guy in the room,” Andersen said. “I’m playing a different sport than all the guys, technically, so the way I lead is just by playing my heart out and trying to play as well as possible and really let nothing faze me when times are a little bit tough.”

Andersen will make his 53rd start of the season tomorrow against Nashville. He was given a break last week in California and only played once in a nine-day stretch before Tuesday. Toronto only has one back-to-back set left and Keefe said there’s no specific plan to get the No. 1 goalie more rest although the team is cognizant of the need to keep Andersen fresh. 

“There is an ongoing discussion, really, each day about where Fred’s at and what’s the right decision for us to make that particular day,” Keefe said. 

Andersen is 9-2-0 with a .929 save percentage against the Predators, including stopping 34 of 36 shots in win in Nashville on Jan. 27. 

Fired-up Andersen: ‘The way I lead is just by playing my heart out’

Lightning forward Alex Killorn landed on top of Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen after a scramble in front and it seemed to spark the net-minder, who was ‘lights out’ for the remainder of the game. Andersen downplays the situation saying ‘the way I lead is just by playing my heart out’, but he was praised by his teammates and coaches after last nights performance.

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The Leafs are 1-5 in the shootout this season after dropping another one in Los Angeles last week. Only Boston and Columbus have a worse record his season. Toronto’s only win in the skills competition came way back in November during an 11-round marathon in Philadelphia. With points so valuable right now, Keefe made the rare move to schedule a shootout drill at the end of today’s 20-minute practice.

“To be honest, it’s not an area I’ve spent a whole lot of time thinking about,” Keefe said. “But, of course, recognizing we’re at a point in time in the season where it could be a major factor (so) you’re focusing in more this time of the year on those small details that maybe get lost throughout the season. I do believe there are elements of randomness that go on in a shootout that are uncontrollable and you can’t prepare and practice for, but we tried to have more of a game-like setting to it today.”

The sides were split into two teams with the top-six forwards and extra defence shooting on Jack Campbell and the bottom-six forwards and top defencemen shooting on Andersen. Defensive defenceman Martin Marincin scored the clinching goal for the top-six team. 

“That move’s a cheat code,” Andersen said with a chuckle. “He’s got the long reach and it’s like a glitch. He did a great job. He’s gotten me with that one before as well. Maybe we’ll see him in the shootout moving forward.”

Probably not. For one thing, Marincin was a healthy scratch last night and will likely be in the press box again Thursday assuming the line rushes at practice hold true. 

When Toronto gets into a shootout they will likely rely on the usual suspects even though they have largely misfired. William Nylander and Jason Spezza have scored twice on four attempts to lead the way this season while Auston Matthews has one goal on six attempts. Mitch Marner has missed on all five of his. In Los Angeles, Matthews and Marner both failed to even get a shot off on Jonathan Quick. 

What’s the comfort level for Matthews in a shootout? 

“I prefer overtime,” he said. “Obviously, L.A., that one kind of got away from me, but I’m pretty comfortable.” 

Andreas Johnsson, who is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery, is the only Leaf other than Spezza, Nylander and Matthews to score in the shootout this season. 

Denis Malgin and John Tavares joined Marincin as the only players to score in today’s five round practice competition. 

Leafs Ice Chips: Marincin the unlikely hero in rare shootout work

The Toronto Maple Leafs have only one shootout win this season in six attempts and with points so valuable down the stretch, head coach Sheldon Keefe wanted to work on it in practice, something that has been rare for them this season. After a good showing, could defencemen Martin Marincin be the unlikely shootout hero for the team?

—

The return of Morgan Rielly was a huge boost for Toronto’s defence last night, but another key development for the Leafs has been the play of Dermott, who seemed to be stalled in his development after returning from shoulder surgery earlier this season. The 23-year-old has been elevated into a shutdown role opposite his good friend Justin Holl and has responded with his best stretch of the year. 

Dermott played just over 25 minutes against the Lightning, a career-high for a game that ended in regulation. He played 25:21 in Los Angeles last week. 

Against the Lightning, Dermott spent almost 11 minutes on the ice with reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov. Per the NaturalStatTrick website, Tampa Bay only outshot Toronto 7-6 in those five-on-five minutes and Kucherov failed to hit the scoresheet. Dermott’s reward was to be put on the ice in the final moments to preserve a crucial win. 

“You try to keep your mind clear of all the nerves and stresses that can be out there,” Dermott said of his mindset. “Just rely on everything we’ve been taught and keep that in the back of your mind and stay close to Freddie, help him as much as we can and then take away pass lanes, try and block as many shots as you can so it’s pretty simple when you break it down like that, but it can be nerve-wracking at times.”

It means a lot, Dermott says, that Keefe and assistant coach Dave Hakstol, who runs the defence on the bench, have faith in him. 

“It’s huge,” he said. “It really gives you that push and that confidence … you really start believing you can do it pretty quick.”

“He’s earned that through the fact that he’s improved his play,” Keefe said. “He’s stepped up and done a really good job.”

—

Lines at Wednesday’s practice: 

Nylander – Matthews – Hyman
Kapanen – Tavares – Marner
Engvall – Kerfoot – Malgin
Clifford – Gauthier – Spezza
Mikheyev

Rielly – Ceci
Dermott – Holl
Sandin – Barrie
Rosen – Marincin

Andersen
Campbell

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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