VANCOUVER – First rule about goal scoring: don’t talk about goal scoring.
After scoring 29 times as a rookie, Brock Boeser spoke openly for years about trying to become a 30-goal scorer in the National Hockey League.
“This is the year,” he said before last season. Then he scored 18 goals in 74 games in easily the worst season of his six-plus with the Vancouver Canucks.
And that was the end of Boeser’s predictions for the media. Whatever his personal objectives were for this season, you couldn’t bribe a number out of him.
He will tell you his weight, shoe size, golf handicap, stick flex and the biggest fish he caught last summer. If he trusts you, he’ll tell you his phone number, maybe even his credit card number. But Brock Boeser will not tell you how many goals he hopes to score this season.
“Absolutely not,” the 26-year-old Minnesotan reiterated Tuesday after, ho-hum, another hat trick in the Canucks’ supremely impressive 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But Boeser did reveal one thing after the cameras turned off post-game in the Canucks dressing room: in his dreams, he never expected to have 21 goals in the first 29 games this season.
“No, I mean, not after last year,” he told Sportsnet. “It’s just, like, if I focus too much on scoring — like if I focus on the chances I had the last couple of games and missed — I feel that I get away from my game. I keep reminding myself each day, I’ve got to keep sticking to the details and playing to our structure and then you’ll get looks.”
Now a hat trick ahead of his entire output of goals from last season, it was a profoundly different Boeser — happier and fitter and more self-aware — who reported to training camp this fall after two years of emotional turmoil that preceded and followed the death of his father.
“It’s good to see,” Canuck goalie Thatcher Demko told reporters. “Brock and I are really tight. We’ve been really good friends for pretty much our whole career. It’s awesome to see. I know how much work he’s put in, physically, mentally, spiritually, trying to get to his full potential. And obviously we’ve seen him take huge steps in that direction, so it’s awesome.”
The Canucks have taken huge steps, too.
After slogging through a heavy four-week schedule with inconsistent results to match their inconsistent play, the Canucks have suddenly rediscovered the disciplined structure and consistent intensity that allowed them to surprise the league with a 10-2-1 start. Elite talent at the top of the lineup and deeper talent than expected at the bottom had a lot to do with that torrid first month, too.
Just as it did Tuesday when Boeser scored three times, Quinn Hughes had three assists, J.T. Miller had a pair of helpers while going head-to-head against the Brayden Point line, and Demko stopped 28 of 29 Tampa shots that included a two point-blank, backdoor saves against Steve Stamkos during a Lightning power play.
But amid their longest homestand of the season so far (Tuesday was the fourth game of five), the Canucks have been able to both practise and rest, and have re-set themselves under coach Rick Tocchet.
They’ve won three straight games for the first time since Nov. 9, doing so with strong defensive efforts against teams that usually are difficult for them: Minnesota, Carolina and Tampa.
The Florida Panthers visit Rogers Arena for Roberto Luongo Night on Thursday.
When the Canucks play to their strengths, they are difficult to beat. It really is about them, not their opponents.
NHL on Sportsnet
Livestream Hockey Night in Canada, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, Leafs, out-of-market matchups, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft.
“I think we have to have that mindset,” Boeser explained. “We’re a hard team to play against when we we do those little things right that we always talk about. I think that gives us offence, too. So, we just kind of make sure we’re doing that each and every night.”
Boeser is tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead with Toronto Maple Leaf Auston Matthews, the two-time winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy.
With 15 goals and 42 points in 29 games, Miller is alone in second in league scoring, five points behind Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov, who went pointless in Vancouver as the Lightning were shut out over the final 58½ minutes.
Hughes is tied for third in scoring at 39 points, three more than any other defenceman.
And the Canucks are 19-9-1, first in scoring and fourth in goals-against.
The team’s transformation this season has matched Boeser’s.
He scored his first goal against the Lightning on a low-slot rebound from Miller’s shot, hammered the second past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy from 40 feet on a one-timer beautiful teed up by Hughes, and scored the third into an empty net.
“I’m thinking about our team structure, the way we need to play,” Boeser said. “The bigger picture is winning and getting to the playoffs, and I think that’s where my mindset is at. And then whatever comes along with it. . . I know I need to produce and our line needs to produce, and we hold each other accountable.
“I don’t know, I just feel like deep down I knew I was capable of scoring a lot of goals in this league. Mentally, the last couple of years, it was just kind of a barrier. It feels like I’m past that now.”
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.
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.
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.
