Canada’s Para ice hockey team will have to settle for silver in Beijing.
After a four-year wait to challenge the U.S. for gold again following a 2-1 defeat in overtime at PyeongChang 2018, the Americans defeated the Canadians 5-0 in the gold-medal game on Sunday for their fourth straight Paralympic title.
Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal both scored twice and added an assist for the Americans. Josh Pauls also found the net to dash Canada’s hopes of claiming its first gold medal since Turin 2006.
“It is pretty heavy on the heart right now, and I think it is going to take some time to move past that,” said Canadian captain Tyler McGregor. “You have to take pride in getting here and the process of the last four years.”
WATCH l Canada settles for silver as U.S. wins Para ice hockey gold medal:
Canada settles for silver as United States wins 4th straight Para ice hockey gold medal
9 hours ago
Duration 5:45
Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal both scored twice as the United States shut out Canada 5-0 to win the Para ice hockey gold medal for the fourth Paralympic Games in a row. 5:45
The silver medal serves as the last of Canada’s 25 overall medals (eight gold, six silver and 11 bronze) at the Beijing Paralympics.
McGregor wishes they could have turned the final piece of hardware into gold.
“The resiliency of this team and how much we love and care for each other, and all the hard work that goes in to representing your country — it’s heartbreaking — but what can you say.”
Five-time Paralympian Greg Westlake, who passed the captain’s role onto the younger McGregor for the 2022 Paralympics, called the result “disappointing.”
“We came out flying and had some great chances early. In our sport, with 15-minute periods, if you can take the lead early it changes the whole dynamic completely,” said the 36-year-old, who announced his retirement following these Games earlier on Saturday.
“You look back on it, and we could have got it done, but we didn’t. So we take our silver medal and hold our heads high.”
Canadian Para Ice Hockey team members are seen during the podium ceremony following the gold-medal final at the National Indoor Stadium on Sunday in Beijing. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Dominic Larocque, of Quebec City, made 15 saves for Canada, including a penalty shot by Pauls in the second period.
St. John’s, N.L., native Liam Hickey had a breakaway opportunity to put Canada on the board first with 6:51 remaining in the opening period, but American goaltender Jen Lee made one of his 16 saves to keep the game levelled.
Big chance for Canada ????????!<br><br>Liam Hickey breaks through but can’t find the shot and Jen Lee ???????? denies him to keep it scoreless<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beijing2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Beijing2022</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinterParalympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WinterParalympics</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParaIceHockey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ParaIceHockey</a> <a href=”https://t.co/x3W7GQrdqB”>pic.twitter.com/x3W7GQrdqB</a>
Shortly after, Farmer and Roybal scored shorthanded goals 25 seconds apart from each other to put the U.S. up 2-0.
Canada was unable to capitalize on a two-man advantage near the end of the second period and veteran Billy Bridges, of Summerside, P.E.I., hit the post in the third on a night where the Canadians had a hard time getting going.
Off the post!<br><br>Billy Bridges shoots and is inches away from getting Canada ???????? on the board!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beijing2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Beijing2022</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinterParalympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WinterParalympics</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParaIceHockey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ParaIceHockey</a> <a href=”https://t.co/fjbe0Lava1″>pic.twitter.com/fjbe0Lava1</a>
Canada also lost 5-0 to the U.S. to open the preliminary round before going on to rout South Korea 6-0.
The Canadians followed that up with an 11-0 victory against South Korea in the semifinals en route to the gold-medal game.
The U.S., on the other hand, had gone undefeated, besting South Korea 9-1 and then getting past China 11-0 in the semifinals prior to the final.
China shut out South Korea 4-0 for bronze on Saturday to complete the podium.
‘You must keep battling’
Despite the 16-year gold medal drought and another tough loss in a final, McGregor looks ahead to what he sees as a bright future for the team.
“We have so much talent and youth. We have so much young leadership within our team, and that’s exciting,” the 28-year-old from Forest, Ont., said. “You must keep battling. This is not the first time we have to start over after being on the wrong side of the gold medal game.
“You never give up. You have to keep finding ways to put yourself [in position] to win a gold medal. We have to believe that we have the team to do that.”
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.
