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Canada overcomes two-goal deficit to beat U.S. at world juniors – The Globe and Mail

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Canada’s Dylan Cozens (centre) and teammate Alexis Lafreniere react after the third goal on the United States goaltender Spencer Knight. Canada beat the U.S. 6-4 at the world junior hockey championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Dec. 26, 2019.

Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

Canada and the United States usually save their fireworks for later.

Huge goals, big saves, moments of both triumph and heartbreak have peppered the intense rivalry at the world junior hockey championship through the years.

With some deft hand-eye coordination and a sweet move in tight, Alexis Lafreniere wrote his own chapter Thursday.

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The projected No. 1 selection at the 2020 NHL draft scored seven seconds after the U.S. tied the game late in the third period as part of a stunning four-point performance, lifting Canada to a wild 6-4 victory over its North American neighbour in the tournament opener for both countries.

“He’s unbelievable,” said Canadian captain Barrett Hayton, whose two power-play goals came on Lafreniere setups. “He brings so many different facets out there. It’s underrated. He brings a ton of energy.

“You see his skill set … really couldn’t ask for better passes.”

Connor McMichael, Nolan Foote and Ty Dellandrea, into an empty net, also scored for Canada, which got 28 saves from Nico Daws in his international debut.

“He’s an amazing player,” McMichael added about Lafreniere. “The way he carried the team today and did the things he did was incredible.”

After watching Shane Pinto bury his second of the night — and third goal on the man advantage for the U.S. with 3:18 left in regulation — Lafreniere responded in the blink of an eye to push his team back in front.

One of five returning players from the Canadian roster that finished a disappointing sixth at last year’s under-20 event on home soil, the 18-year-old batted down an aerial pass by American defenceman K’Andre Miller before moving in alone and deking to the forehand on Spencer Knight.

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“I got lucky to knock it down,” said Lafreniere, who grabbed the crest on his jersey in celebration. “I just tried to get it to the net. I was lucky enough to put it in.”

Nick Robertson, with a goal and an assist, and Arthur Kaliyev also scored for the Americans, who got 26 saves from Knight as their streak of 12 straight victories to open the world juniors came to an end.

“It’s one game,” said Pinto, who added an assist for a three-point night. “It’s the beginning of the tournament, so we’ve just got to have a positive mindset.”

The countries tend to face off later at the world juniors when placed in the same group — often on New Year’s Eve — but instead met on Boxing Day in front of a pro-Canadian crowd of 8,963 that included hundreds of travelling fans at Ostravar Arena.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” Hayton said. “It felt like we were almost in Canada.”

In Group B’s early game, the host Czech Republic upset Russia 4-3. Next up for Canada is Saturday’s tilt with the Russians, while the U.S. goes right back at it Friday versus Germany.

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Down 2-0 after the first, the Canadians came out flying in the second with three goals in just over 10 minutes.

McMichael got things started for the 17-time gold medallists at 3:31 when he took a pass from Akil Thomas off the rush and beat Knight.

Hayton, who was loaned to Canada for the tournament by the Arizona Coyotes, tied it on a power play at 6:34 when Lafreniere found him for a one-timer just seven seconds after Pinto, a second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, went off for holding.

Foote, whose father Adam won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche and also captured gold at the 2002 Olympics, gave Canada its first lead at 13:03 on another man advantage.

“We just tried to keep it simple and get pucks to the net,” said Lafreniere, who leads the Canadian Hockey League with 70 points in 32 games this season. “That worked out pretty good. Our power play was good. We’ve got to keep working, keep getting better.”

Pinto appeared to score the Americans’ third power-play goal in three chances late in the period, but time expired before the puck entered the net.

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Daws made a couple big stops in the third to keep his team ahead before Hayton found the back of the net on another power play on another slick Lafreniere delivery at 10:47 to make it 4-2.

But Robertson, a Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect, got the U.S. back within one with 7:45 left in regulation. Pinto then tied it with the Americans’ third with the man advantage to set the table for Lafreniere’s heroics.

“That was really fun,” McMichael said. “You can tell we had a lot of nerves in the first period, but we got back to our game in the second and third.”

Canada, which according to the website eliteprospects.com is icing its youngest-ever roster at the world juniors with an average age of 18.6 years, found itself in an early hole.

Pinto opened the scoring on a deflection at 3:10 with Hayton in the box as Canadian fans were in the process of passing a giant flag across the lower bowl.

Canada started to get going midway through the period with an energetic shift capped by hulking six-foot-six defenceman Kevin Bahl using a 10-inch height advantage to lower the boom on Bobby Brink.

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But the Canadians didn’t really threaten Knight’s goal, and the U.S. doubled its lead with 1:28 left in the first on a power play when Kaliyev found the range.

Canada, however, would respond in impressive fashion.

“It’s that kind of a tournament,” Hayton said. “You get those swings. You have to stick with it.”

The U.S. came in having won four straight and six of its last 11 against Canada after picking up just two victories — albeit in the 2004 and 2010 gold-medal games — in the countries’ 10 previous meetings dating back to 2000.

While none of the players on the ice Thursday had ever suited up against one another on this stage, there’s plenty of familiarity at lower age groups, including at the under-18 worlds and the annual Hlinka Gretzky Cup summer showcase.

One of the players with zero familiarity is the undrafted Daws, who came out of nowhere with a banner start to the his junior season to grab the starting job despite having never played for Canada before Thursday.

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“A crazy first international game for me,” Daws said. “It was special.”

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

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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