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Canada’s Gushue falls to Scotland’s Mouat in gold-medal game at men’s curling worlds

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There was no elation in front of a home crowd for Canada’s Brad Gushue this time around.

Drama was minimized Sunday at TD Place as his team’s attempt to follow a national curling crown with a world title was snuffed out in emphatic fashion.

Scotland’s Bruce Mouat was in full control in a 9-3 win that sent him to the top of the world men’s podium for the first time and extended Canada’s golden drought for another year.

“We brought our A-plus game,” Mouat said. “I don’t think we’ve played many better games than that.”

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Bruce Mouat leads Scotland to first world championship curling title since 2009

 

Scotland defeated Canada 9-3 to capture the men’s world curling championship title Sunday in Ottawa.

Mouat started with hammer and scored a deuce in the second end. He added two more points on a steal in the third and never relinquished the lead.

“It was clinical,” said Canada vice Mark Nichols. “They made everything but we didn’t put any pressure on them.”

Gushue, Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker looked set to follow the playbook that worked for them at the Brier.

Just like a few weeks ago in London, Ont., a few round-robin hiccups seemed to be forgotten come playoff time.

Gushue appeared primed to peak again when it mattered most, eliminating defending champ Niklas Edin of Sweden before downing top seed Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland in the semifinal.

But Mouat never let Canada get a sniff. He took the crowd out of it early by delivering a near-flawless performance.

“Even if we did play our best, them having the hammer starting out and then playing the way that they played, it probably wasn’t going to be enough anyway,” Gushue said.

“But I would have liked to have pushed it a little bit more [to] find out.”

An early four-point deficit put Canada into chase mode.

With Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan in form on the front end and Grant Hardie and Mouat delivering on the back, the Scots refused to ease the pressure.

“They were comfortable the whole time” said Canada coach Caleb Flaxey. “We didn’t make them uncomfortable that game.”

Costly errors

Canada had limited opportunities and a few errors proved costly. Gushue, from St. John’s, was heavy with a draw to the four-foot ring in the third end and his hit-and-roll attempt rolled out in the fifth.

Mouat drew for two to take a 6-1 lead into the mid-game break to the delight of Scottish supporters in a back section of the arena.

Canada scored its first deuce in the sixth end as Scotland played the scoreboard. Mouat went with a hit instead of a riskier double takeout, content to take hammer and a three-point lead into the seventh.

After a blank, Gushue tried a hit and roll but couldn’t quite remove the Scottish stone from the 12-foot ring. Mouat followed with a hit for three and Canada conceded.

“Yesterday we were firing on all cylinders and everything seemed to go our way,” Nichols said. “Today it was just that little bit off. We weren’t bad, we just weren’t perfect and they were pretty much perfect.”

 

That Curling Show: Reaction from the world men’s curling championship final

Behind the scenes after the world men’s curling championship final in Ottawa, Ont., where Team Mouat from Scotland defeated Team Canada’s Gushue 9-3 in 8 ends.

All four Scottish players shot in the mid-90s. Nichols was at 81 per cent and Gushue shot a game-low 78 per cent.

“We had to take some chances, we took those chances and it didn’t work out for us,” Gushue said. “It was disappointing.”

Canada had the edge in experience, but the youthful Scots — with an average age of just under 29 — boasted big-game moments, too.

Mouat is a world junior champ, world mixed doubles champion and he took Olympic silver last year in Beijing. He finished third at the world men’s playdowns in 2018 and took silver in 2021.

“We’ve had a few tough losses in championship finals,” he said. “We knew what we needed to bring and we brought it. It’s really nice to actually feel like we can do that in a final.”

Earlier in the day, Switzerland defeated Italy’s Joel Retornaz 11-3 for the bronze medal.

Gushue, Nichols and Walker, with Brett Gallant playing second, won gold in their first appearance at this event in 2017 in Edmonton. It was the last time Canada has been on the top of the podium at this competition.

That foursome settled for silver in 2018 and 2022 when they fell to Edin both years in Las Vegas.

Harnden, who joined the Gushue rink after Gallant’s departure last spring, won world silver in 2013 on a team skipped by Brad Jacobs.

Scotland, as the No. 2 seed, enjoyed a bye before dispatching Italy in a semifinal that went an extra end. It was Scotland’s first world men’s title since 2009 when David Murdoch beat Canada’s Kevin Martin in Moncton.

Announced attendance for the final was 5,604 to bring the overall total to 75,960.

Gushue, the 2006 Olympic champion, will be the Canadian entry at next year’s Brier in Regina. The winner of that event will represent the country at the 2024 world men’s championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Kerri Einarson skipped Canada to a bronze medal at last month’s women’s world championship in Sandviken, Sweden.

Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing will wear the Maple Leaf at the April 22-29 world mixed doubles championship in Gangneung, South Korea.

 

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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