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Blue Jays done in by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s broken glove as skid hits new low – Yahoo Canada Sports

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The Toronto Blue Jays are in the middle of a nightmare stretch and their misfortune reached new heights in Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Staked to a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning, Blue Jays relief pitcher David Phelps induced a comebacker that should have ended a bases-loaded threat. Phelps threw home for the initial out, then catcher Gabriel Moreno fired to first base for what would have been an inning-ending double play to keep the Mariners off the board in the frame.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s glove had other ideas.

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When the ball arrived at first base it went straight through Guerrero Jr.’s leather, resulting in a run for Seattle. The Mariners would tack on another run in the inning, and ended up winning 6-5 to complete a four-game sweep.

Strangely enough, this is not the first time this season Guerrero Jr.’s glove has been busted receiving a ball at first base. The All-Star also blew out his mitt catching a toss from Santiago Espinal in a victory over the Baltimore Orioles on June 13.

“That changed the game,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said, per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “And that’s just tough frigging luck. I’ve seen it twice now, all this year, and it usually doesn’t happen to the same guy twice. But it happened.”

Sunday’s equipment malfunction capped off an abysmal road trip for the reeling Blue Jays, who went 1-6 through Oakland and Seattle to fall out of a playoff spot (the Mariners own the tiebreaker as the teams are tied for the final wild-card position at 45-42). Toronto has now lost nine of its past 10 games.

“This whole road trip, it’s a little bit of Murphy’s Law, right? If something can go wrong, it has,” Phelps said.

An equipment malfunction ended up costing the Blue Jays in a big way on Sunday. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

An equipment malfunction ended up costing the Blue Jays in a big way on Sunday. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Luckily for the Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays have not been able to create any separation in the standings. The collective struggles of the three teams has allowed the rest of the pack in the American League to catch up, including the Orioles, who are just two games behind the Blue Jays.

Toronto will have a day off on Monday before welcoming the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals to Rogers Centre for the final stretch before the All-Star break.

Blue Jays fans will hope Guerrero Jr. can find a reliable glove by then.

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.” 

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

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That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout. 

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. 

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. 

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. 

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford. 

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said. 

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday. 

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13. 

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com

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“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

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JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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