The Montreal Canadiens’ pre-season march is finally nearing its final stage as the team rolled into Toronto for their third meeting that doesn’t count against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday evening. The lineup still was far from the finished product as injuries, player rotation, and a new goalie shook things up once again.
With Cole Caufield not yet game-ready, Jonathan Drouin slid into his spot on the top line with Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki. Meanwhile, Brendan Gallagher and Joel Armia flanked Jake Evans on the second line, and Ryan Poehling was given third-line duties with Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Artturi Lehkonen. In net, the newly claimed Samuel Montembeault got the nod to make a full 60-minute debut.
In the early going, Montembeault faced a bevy of chances, including a long-range, seeing-eye shot by Ilya Mikheyev, but he fended them off. Toronto looked like they had taken an early lead one of those opportunities, but Brett Seney had slid right into Montembeault, not allowing him a chance to reset and make the save, so the goal was waved off instantly.
To rub salt in the wound, the Canadiens went right down the ice and opened the scoring with a proper goal. Ben Chiarot crept up along the boards, letting a low-chance shot go on net. Lckily for him, Armia got his stick on the shot, fooling Petr Mrazek as the puck snuck behind him to give Montreal the early edge.
The Habs then immediately went on the game’s first power play with a chance to double their lead, but a shaky effort led to a pair of great short-handed looks by Toronto instead, and that was about it for the Habs’ man advantage.
Toronto’s top-six talent then took over the game, with Nick Ritchie tallying a pair of goals in short order. First he was left wide open in front on net as Gianni Fairbrother vacated his assignment, and all Ritchie had to do was tap home the pass from Mitch Marner to tie the game. Then, with Kaiden Guhle sitting for slashing, it was Ritchie striking again, taking advantage of a stickless Ryan Poehling to rifle a second goal past Montembeault to put Toronto on top.
An Ilya Mikheyev cross-checking penalty allowed Montreal a chance to tie the game, and this time the power play did just that. The first unit failed to get much going, but the second wave broke through with a great screen from Mathieu Perreault. Alex Belzile collected a feed from Chris Wideman, firing it through Perreault to tie the game once more.
Toronto took the lead back shortly before the end of the first period when Mikheyev atoned for his penalty by snapping a shot through Montembeault to put a damper on the end of the opening period.
The start of the second did not go much better for the Canadiens as Toronto went back to the power play and laid total siege to their opponent. Montembeault was up to the task as Toronto pushed the shot differential to an obscene 32-7 advantage with barely five minutes gone in the middle period.
Montreal continued to take ill-timed penalties, this time with Armia heading to the sin bin. The Canadiens’ penalty-killers did well to force Toronto to the outside, but eventually Brennan Menell crept into the slot and finished off a feed from John Tavares to double the Leafs’ lead.
That lead grew to three goals when Semyon Der-Arguchintsev snapped his first of the pre-season into the net, putting the game pretty well out of reach before 40 minutes were up.
Three goals were the difference when the intermission horn sounded, leaving Montreal looking for some kind of pushback in the third period.
They did not get it. Even with an early power play they were unable to cut into Toronto’s three-goal lead. To make matters worse, as Seney exited the box after serving a penalty, he caught a tired Belzile trying to collect a poor pass from Alexander Romanov. Seney pulled away and finished with aplomb, roofing a backhand by Montembeault to put a stamp on the game.
Despite multiple chances on the power play, the Canadiens never really threatened to put a dent into Toronto’s lead as the third period wore on. In fact, the only real highlight for the Habs was Michael Pezzetta finally getting his wish and tossing the gloves off to tussle with Kurtis Gabriel. It was a spirited fight between the two, even with Pezzetta giving up height and weight to his opponent.
The good news for Habs fans is that there is just one pre-season game left, on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. Further good news is that Cole Caufield is expected to return to the starting lineup, and the Canadiens should have as close to an opening-night lineup as possible.
It was a tough debut for Montembeault, but it’s hard to pin the loss on him. The team in front of him struggled mightily against Toronto’s stars, but he did about as well as anyone could have expected under that kind of pressure. With Cayden Primeau needing more time as the starter in Laval, Montembeault seemingly has the backup spot locked down until Carey Price returns.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
