EDMONTON — Teams always say the same thing: At a short tournament, you’re just trying to improve with each game. Well, Canada didn’t just get better in their third contest of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship, they got downright spectacular.
Kent Johnson authored the signature moment of the event, Mason McTavish is officially on record watch and Jack Thompson quietly collected three assists as Canada overcame its first deficit of the world juniors to defeat Czechia 5-1 on Saturday night at Rogers Place.
Johnson, the lanky Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and former Michigan Wolverine, accomplished a lot with his lacrosse-style goal that has become entrenched in hockey vernacular as ‘The Michigan.’ With one quick stuff of the puck under the bar, Johnson paid homage to his old college, injected real life into a WJC tournament can use every bit of juice it can get and may have also put a dollar or two in his head coach’s pocket.
“I won the coaches’ poll on who was going to be the first player to do it between him and [McTavish],” Canadian bench boss Dave Cameron said.
Of course, all those things are secondary to the fact that, with precisely 60 seconds to go in the opening frame, Johnson’s outrageous tally provided Canada with a 2-1 lead after it had fallen behind 1-0 by giving up a shorthanded marker to Martin Rysavy just 46 seconds into a five-minute power play. The squad seemed rattled after the shorty, failing to muster much with the man advantage after Jaroslav Chmelar had received the boot for his blindside hit on fellow New York Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann.
And while Canada did manage the get on even terms when McTavish tipped home his first of two goals, Czech goalie Tomas Suchanek was standing on his head and starting to give the sense this could be one of those nights for a Canadian squad that was robbed on a handful of five-star chances.
“Unbelievable,” Othmann said Suchanek’s play early on. “I looked over at [McTavish] and I was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got a game.’
In fact, moments before Johnson’s goal, Suchanek denied him on a one-timer with a positively silly glove save. After the ensuing face-off, though, the puck found its way behind the net, where Johnson swooped in, scooped it up and flung it into the net, sending what was visibly the largest crowd of the tournament into a frenzy.
“It happened pretty quick,” Johnson said. “I think I got a loose puck behind the net and there was no D-man on the right post, so I just went for it.”
The goal-scorer’s reaction was just as animated as that of his teammates and the fans, not just because he’d scored the type of goal he told Othmann in training camp he wanted to try if the opportunity ever came, but because he finally punched through after being denied by Suchanek and going without a goal in Canada’s first two games.
“I would have been pretty pumped for a goal off my skate, too,” Johnson joked.
The night really marked a leap for Johnson’s entire line, which features him on the left side, Tyson Foerster in the middle and Logan Stankoven on the right flank. The only goal from any of those guys previously came from Stankoven in the form of a power-play marker in Thursday’s 11-1 win over Slovakia. While Canada’s had more than enough offence to get by, there was no doubt this second unit had to find another gear and it did just that — Johnson set up Foerster for a beautiful one-timer to close out the scoring — against the best team Canada has seen so far.
“That was a really good step for us,” Johnson said. “We were all over the puck tonight.”
If the second line’s positive results were a welcomed change, it was the same ol’ same ol’ for McTavish on the top line with Othmann and Connor Bedard. While nothing could top Johnson’s eye-popping goal, McTavish made it 4-1 halfway through the game when he took a feed that was deftly feathered by Bedard and broke in alone on Suchanek.
The Canadian captain opened up the goalie’s wickets and slid the puck into the back of the net for his sixth tally in three contests. It’s very possible McTavish still has four games to go in Edmonton, meaning the all-time Canadian record of 10 goals — both John Anderson and Dale McCourt had that many at the 1977 event — is well within reach.
As pretty as McTavish’s second goal was, his first one was a greasy re-direction on a point shot created by Thompson. The defenceman, who is among the nine new faces on this team that were not part of the original Christmastime squad, did a great job of walking the blueline and getting the puck through a maze of bodies toward the net, where McTavish could deflect it home for the type of tally you often need to get things going against a hot tender. That play combined with his other pair of helpers and some key shot blocks underscored why Cameron has been so impressed with Thompson so far.
“He’s just a steady guy,” the coach said. “He made a big play on the [first] goal to get the puck through to the net.”
Maybe Canada was always going to find a way to win this contest. After all, the club did end up with 57 shots on goal. Still, even going through that little bit of adversity — falling behind early, having to really work for it to beat a goalie — can help a team grow and make some progress toward that oft-cited goal of growing an inch with every day.
“Obviously when you have a five-minute power play and you go down 1-0 and don’t end up scoring, it can take the life out of you,” Bedard said. “But I thought we responded really well and it was cool to see our bounce-back.”
The Canadians were also clearly happy to see the impact their play had on a crowd that was much livelier than anything they’d experienced at this somewhat subdued summer event so far. The third period even brought about a few attempts at the wave, a sure sign the excitement is ramping up a bit as Canada will play its final preliminary-round game against Finland on Monday with top spot in the group almost certainly to be on the line.
“That’s real nice,” Cameron said of the support. “It’s quite a commitment for these guys to come in the summer, it’s real good hockey, it’s best-on-best, a lot of guys on all the teams are going to play in the National Hockey League, so it’s an easy decision to come to the games in my opinion.”
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
