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In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
Given the chance Canada made no mistake.
Justin Douglas scored his second try of the game with South Africa playing a man short due to a yellow card as Canada used a 26-19 victory to win the bronze medal on Sunday at the HSBC Canada Sevens Rugby tournament.
“With yellow cards you are hoping for at least one score,” said Harry Jones of West Vancouver, who celebrated the win with family and friends. “It’s a crazy game and you have to be switched on every millisecond or else it can go the other way.”
The bronze was Canada’s best finish at the Vancouver tournament since a seventh in 2018 and their best showing in the World Rugby Seven Series since 2018 when the men were fourth in Cape Town and Paris.
WATCH | Canada claims bronze over South Africa:
It also was Canada’s first win over South Africa in seven years.
New Zealand defeated Australia 17-14 in the gold medal game.
Canada and South Africa were tied 14-14 at the half. Douglas, of Abbotsford, B.C., gave Canada a 21-14 lead, then Jones sealed the win.
Nathan Hirayama of Richmond, B.C., had a try and three converts.
There were some anxious moments as time wound down and South Africa battled to tie the match, but the Canadian defence held.
WATCH | Hirayama proud of the bronze medal win:
“It’s all mental at that point,” said Jones. “The bodies are hurting but the crowd did it for us . . . pushed us in the final few minutes to hold on. It was amazing.”
Canada’s previous best finish in a tournament this year was a fifth in Hamilton, New Zealand.
“We’ve been on a path since last August,” said coach Henry Paul. “It’s going in the right direction. We’re still finding out a little bit about ourselves.”
Hirayama said the medal performance will boost the team as it prepares for this summers Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“There’s definitely a belief in the squad,” he said. “I think we’re growing and we’re taking good steps forward, leading toward the summer, which at the end of the day is our biggest goal.”
The bronze medal soothed the wound from a heart-breaking loss in the semifinal.
Canada gave up a pair of tries less than 30 seconds apart, then were denied a last-minute scoring chance in losing 19-14 to Australia.
WATCH | Canada comes up inches short of gold medal final:
With Canada threatening to tie the match in extra time Theo Sauder was tackled at the goal line. An instant replay showed the ball touched down just before crossing the line.
“I wish my arm was one inch longer,” said the Vancouver native.
The Canadian used a 21-0 win over Spain earlier in the day to advance to their first-even semifinal at the Vancouver tournament.
Scrum-half Lucas Hammond had a big game, scoring the game’s first try and making a big defensive play when he knocked a Spanish player to touch at the goal line.
The Toronto native has just returned to the lineup after missing 14 months with a ligament injury in his foot.
“It was a tough year,” he said. “I was always focused on this moment and getting back into it.”
WATCH | Sauder wishes he had longer arms:
The Canadians won all three of their games during Saturday’s opening day of competition in the 16-team tournament. They started with a convincing 31-21 win over France, needed a couple late tries to upset Fiji 26-21, then pounded Wales 29-7 to finish on top of Pool B.
Both the Canadian men’s and women’s sevens teams have qualified for the Olympics but there are fears the spread of the coronavirus could delay or even postpone the Games.
The upcoming men’s sevens tournaments in London and Paris are scheduled to proceed, but events in Singapore and Hong Kong have been postponed from April to October.
Paul said there are plans for the men’s team to travel to Argentina for a series of games.
The scheduling of the final two tournaments of the season shouldn’t affect selecting the Olympic team roster.
“I don’t think there is too much fiddling around with the squad,” he said. “I’ll have some dilemmas but good dilemmas.”
The Vancouver tournament attracted 74,456 people over two days to BC Place Stadium.
WATCH | The full match between Canada and Spain:
Spectators came in a variety of colourful and imaginative costumes.
There were simple outfits like loud shirts decorated with pineapples and matching hats or black-and-red lumberjack jackets. Fuzzy onesies, some with hoods, were popular, as were red-and-white suits dotted with maple leaves. Brown sheep sat besides pink furry pigs near pandas. There were a group of Sasquatch wearing Canadian toques and pink flamingos lapping beer.
Flags from all the participating countries waved.
The tournament is being played at the same time other sports events around the world are being cancelled or postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix mentioned the tournament at the Vancouver COVID-19 update the previous day.
“I know people love that event and have been waiting for it to come to Vancouver, but if you’re sick, don’t go,” said Dix, a sports fan who has attended the event in the past. “Watch it on TV.”
Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Canucks today announced that Rogers Arena doors will open at 5:30 p.m. PT, for Tuesday’s Stanley Cup Playoff Game #2, 30 minutes earlier than normal. The enthusiasm and passion of fans wanting to arrive early and not miss the Toyota Party on the Plaza as well as the in-arena pre-game show experience, encouraged the team to ensure the bowl is loud and proud when the pre-show begins at 7:00 p.m.
“Our players could not have been clearer after Game #1 that the fans played a huge part of the victory on Sunday night,” said Michael Doyle, President, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Business Operations. “Our players are feeding off this energy and we want them to feel it from the second they step out of the dressing room.”
“I know the players and there was a lot of ‘wow’ with how loud the crowd was,” said Rick Tocchet, Head Coach. “Some guys told me they got emotional during it. I’m sure the crowd is going to be just as loud (for Game 2).”
The Toyota Party of the Plaza will open at 4:30 p.m. with a wide range of activities for fans of all ages. From face-painting and ball hockey to the Michelob Ultra beer garden and live music on the Air Canada Stage with The Anthony LaRosa Band, the North Plaza will be the place to be to get ready for Game #2.
The Canucks also announced that a number of tickets and suites have been released and are available to the public at canucks.com/tickets.
We remind our fans to be cautious of fraudulent ticket sites and activities. Only authentic and verified Ticketmaster resale seats are protected. We encourage fans to avoid off-platform sites and purchasing through social media platforms as we cannot validate the legitimacy of tickets purchased outside of our organization or through Ticketmaster directly.
Rogers Arena will host an official ‘Away Game Viewing Party’ for Game #3 of the first round of NHL Playoffs. Presented by Rogers, the Viewing Party will be a ticketed event, costing $15, with proceeds benefiting the Canucks for Kids Fund. Watch the game on one of the biggest and brightest videoboards in the NHL, be entertained throughout the experience, and receive special Rogers Value Menu food and beverage offerings thanks to Rogers. Visit canucks.com/watch to secure your tickets.
Vancouver Canucks playoff merchandise is now available on vanbase.ca. From locker room exclusive items and jerseys, to car flags, player fanchains and Viper sunglasses, we recommend you order quickly or drop by the Canucks Store at Rogers Arena to get playoff ready.
Follow us on social media, download the Canucks App, and stay connected as unique content, contests and more announcements are made.
Media are reminded that any content-gathering on the plaza requires approval from the Vancouver Canucks Communications Team at [email protected]
Go Canucks Go!
In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
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Toronto’s season likely would be toast if it came home trailing 2-0 to playoff nemesis Boston, with faith already shaken outside the room after a Game 1 clunker. Matthews, highest paid of the Core Four forwards at $13.25 million US a season, needed to have a huge presence in a Game 2 that looked at times as it, too, would be fumbled away.
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He embraced his inner Killer and like Gilmour, had significant shifts throughout the 200-foot stage, capped by the 3-2 winner on a full steam breakaway. Matthews’ three-point night tied a career single-game high and though still trailing Gilmour 77-47 in post-season production, Matthews earned himself and his club and extended runway in this series, tied 1-1 heading home.
“Auston’s all over the stat sheet tonight,” head coach Sheldon Keefe praised to media in Boston. “A goal, two assists, but to me it’s the way he worked — hard, physical, winning puck battles all over the ice.”
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Game 3 is Wednesday in Toronto, where the Leafs could get William Nylander back and now have a very confident Ilya Samsonov in net after Boston chose to take Leaf nemesis Jereny Swayman out Monday for Linus Ullmark.
In the teeth of the Bruins’ TD Garden den, Matthews played a team-high 23 minutes and 24 seconds, had eight shots on Ullmark and delivered six hits. After labouring in vain to reach his 70th goal in the last three regular season games, he finally nailed it in style, one-handing a long aerial bomb from Max Domi at the Boston line away from the flailing stick of Charlie McAvoy, settling the disc and deking Ullmark.
“It’s all about just trying to get to the net,” Matthews said. “It’s a battle at the net fronts out there, and I guess on the goal, just a flip out of the zone and just try to anticipate and time it well.”
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With less than eight minutes to go, it was Toronto’s first lead on Boston in six games all season. Matthews then helped kill the final seconds with Ullmark on the bench, after Tyler Bertuzzi served a potentially devasting penalty.
“There is just a lot of belief and trust in that room in one another,” captain John Tavares told Sportsnet. “A lot of guys have been in different situations over the years. We just continued to stay with it and got rewarded.
“Good for the power play to come through (1-for-16 against Boston this season coming in) and anytime you give No, 34 a look like that, he’s obviously a special player who made a good play.
“The way the guys were blocking shots, closing time and space, Sammy being big and seeing pucks and guys battling hard for him, it was a hard-fought win.’
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The Leafs had lost the previous eight to Boston going back to last year and in their previous eight playoff game versus Tampa, Florida and Boston, had not scored more than two.
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At times Keefe flipped Domi and Mitch Marner on Matthews’ right side to put Marner with his long-time centre. It’s just as important to give Marner some jump, too, especially with William Nylander missing a second game with an undisclosed injury … Tavares’s goal when Matthews found him alone in the slot was preceded by two power play video reviews that went against the Leafs, which Keefe cited in saying he “loved the resolve” of the Leafs. Calle Jarnkrok’s shot that Ullmark gloved was inconclusively not over the goal line, and a Bertuzzi’s mid-air bat looked low enough until the cameras zoomed in … As in Game 1, a good Leaf start came undone trying to show Boston they wouldn’t be intimidated on Causeway Street. Jake McCabe cross-checked Jakub Lauko after a whistle and Boston capitalized, Jake DeBrusk adding to his productive Game 1 setting up Morgan Geekie after David Kampf and Timothy Liljegren got confused on who should make an easy clear.
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Kudos to the Leafs for coming right back 14 seconds later, Matthews corralling a high puck, firing it off of the crossbar, with Domi following up, which made Max and Tie Domi the first Leaf father and son with Toronto playoff goals … The fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Kampf and Connor Dewar once more out-played Boston’s group, though the Leafs cratered in the last 20 seconds of the first period. Samsonov whiffed on a hand-off to Liljegren, giving Charlie Coyle an extra shot that broke Samsonov’s mask. In the time it took the goalie to get his broken strap fixed, Boston had time to double check a faceoff drill, Pavel Zacha winning it, defenceman Simon Benoit unable to tie up David Pastrnak, who then eluded Marner for his first of the series … Starting Ullmark left Boston cosch Jim Montgomery open to criticism, messing with Jeremy Swayman’s 4-0 record against the Leafs this season with only three goals against the past three in regular season and playoffs. But Montgomery was not going to break up what has been an effective rotation.
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