People can blather on about replacing Sheldon Keefe as coach with his NHL-best regular season .600-plus winning percentage, but let the club keep his eyes in the sky.
Sports
Auston Matthews hat trick triggers Leafs win, takes heat off coach Sheldon Keefe
With collars tightening on Toronto’s bench after Connor Zary scored to erase what would’ve been a fifth-straight Toronto late-game lead and potential season-high losing streak of the same length, a call came down to Toronto’s bench to ask for a 30-second timeout.
Bean and Kim thought they detected an ever-so-slight fingertip by Blake Coleman on the puck before the goal to negate it on a hand pass, verified by the officials. The Leafs nail-bit their way through the final 8:30 for the 4-3 win to take some pressure off of themselves and their headmaster.
Keefe has won 18 of 19 coach’s challenges since replacing Mike Babcock, with Bean and Kim on the rewind buttons, 4-for-4 this season with a minor penalty always looming over any miscalculation.
It took Keefe an excruciating eight days to get his milestone 188th win to pass Ted Nolan and Johnny Wilson (uncle of former Leaf coach Ron), for 91st in NHL victories, now three back of his current assistant, Guy Boucher, who worked 113 more games.
Boucher is just one of the names bantered as possible replacements if general manager Brad Treliving really is contemplating a change. Thursday’s result provided some breathing room, though this trip still has two tough stops in Vancouver and Seattle this weekend with a back-to-back versus Winnipeg before the all-star game break.
Matthews bit into that lead before the frame ended on a line change that put him out with William Nylander and fourth liner Bobby McMann. With another assist by new linemate Pontus Holmberg, Matthews tied it on a well-executed 6-on-5 delayed penalty in the middle period, then aided Mitch Marner’s power play goal, before completing his trick with help from ‘old’ linemate Matthew Knies.
“Nice to get back the winning feeling,” said goaltender Martin Jones, another key to victory with 23 saves. “Our process was really good and I thought in the third period we really shut them down (five shots).”
Reversal of what would have been the tying goal evened up the video review scorecard after Andrew Mangiapane’s late second period goal stood up after he kicked it in off of Toronto defenceman Timothy Liljegren’s stick on the goal line. Liljegren also took a late penalty for closing his hand on the puck, but after their sordid series of late-game collapses, the Leafs killed that and hung on.
The post-Treliving Flames won just two of their first nine games, but came in with a four-game win streak, their longest of the year.
A win was vital for the Leafs after glancing at the out-of-town board to see five other Eastern Conference teams top Western opponents on Thursday as their game got underway.
Jones, expected to start against the home-town Canucks on Saturday, had to be sharp early despite the two strikes against him.
Captain John Tavares was blanked for a sixth straight game, his longest points’ slump as a Leaf, while Nylander’s frustrations after signing his eight-year, US$92-million extension was signed, ended with two assists.
“We could’ve grown our lead significantly, but that would’ve been too easy,” Keefe said, allowing for some much-needed levity. “I like in the third period we didn’t panic. We’re supposed to find our way through (tight games). It was one of the best third periods all season.”
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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
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AP NHL:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
The Eagles play at New Orleans on Sunday.
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AP NFL:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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