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Canadiens @ Penguins Game 2 recap: Too little too late – Habs Eyes on the Prize

Published

4 years ago

August 4, 2020

The Montreal Canadiens entering Monday’s Game 2 with a bit more swagger than they had for Game 1. They had reason to be riding high, having pulled off the overtime win in game one, and doing so with a massive showing from Nick Suzuki and Carey Price who was in top form to stymie the Pittsburgh Penguins’ attack. Jeff Petry’s overtime winner was an emphatic exclamation point that, even as the lowest-seeded team, Montreal was not to be taken lightly.

With a win in their pocket, the Canadiens opted to keep their lineup the same for Game 2. The Penguins, despite their costly errors on Saturday, stuck with Matt Murray and Jack Johnson in their lineup.

The game started far better for Montreal than Saturday’s, when they were shelled for the opening 10 minutes by a dangerous Penguins offence. The Habs maintained offensive-zone pressure on Monday night, with multiple lines generating some pressure before Pittsburgh could clear the puck. In fact, the Penguins’ best scoring chance came when Dale Weise misplayed a puck into Carey Price’s pads, that the goaltender had to react to quickly.

Even with the play going against them, the Penguins got on the board first this time, as Sidney Crosby jumped on the ice with a sneaky change, sliding in behind a backchecking Joel Armia and easily tucking his shot through Price’s five-hole for an early Pittsburgh lead.

Montreal didn’t make it much easier on themselves, as an ill-timed change led to a too many men on the ice call and a Pittsburgh power play. A strong kill from Price and a heroic effort by Joel Armia to generate some short-handed chances helped to see out the early penalty, and the Canadiens headed to an advantage of their own shortly after. A Jonathan Drouin drop-pass to no one and an Armia penalty brought the power play to a premature end, shifting the play to four-on-four.

Even that didn’t last long, as Brett Kulak using his skating to draw a holding call when he tried to wedge a wraparound shot past Matt Murray as the net was forced off its moorings. In keeping with the theme of the period, Montreal managed to take another too many men penalty, putting Pittsburgh back on an abbreviated advantage. As the period wound down, neither side managed any real pressure, sending them to the intermission with Montreal trailing by a goal.

The second period started with the Penguins swarming all over Montreal, yet it was Carey Price still standing tall in his net to deny multiple goals. When Montreal did finally generate some offensive pressure, the pesky behavior of Brendan Gallagher ended up drawing them a power play. The advantage again couldn’t find the back of the net, but on a positive note also didn’t negate itself midway through.

Armia’s rough night continued as he was called for hooking just past the halfway point of the period, giving the Penguins another crack on the power play. It was again Price showing off on the penalty kill as he battled through multiple Pittsburgh players to smother a loose puck in his crease. Even as Patric Hornqvist dug away, Price gloved it calmly to cancel out the attack and keep the deficit at just one goal.

Armia wasn’t out of the box for long, as he collided with Justin Schultz who was reaching for a puck, getting called for an interference penalty. When the dust settled on a small scrum, Evgeni Malkin and Shea Weber also took a seat for matching roughing minors after the play.

The final few minutes of the period felt like an eternity as the Penguins dominated the puck, refusing to budge at all in the Montreal zone. Price fended off all comers, including a pair of breakaway chances from Zach Aston-Reese and Bryan Rust in the dying moments of the period. All in all, to still only be trailing by one goal after two periods was nothing short of a miracle for Montreal.

Kulak, likely tired of playing in his own end, started the third period by creating an odd-man rush, then sliding a pass around Kris Letang to Tatar. The Habs forward got off a great chance, but Murray blocked it down with his shoulder, denying Tatar a goal. The Montreal pressure didn’t yield from there as Max Domi’s line Crosby’s on their back foot in the offensive zone as they looked to tie the game up.

Montreal still could not find a breakthrough and Pittsburgh was content to coast the remainder of the game out as the third wore on. Kulak jumped up on a big rush late in the period, and was caught in deep as the play transitioned the other way. With one defenceman out of his usual spot, a feed to Jason Zucker put the Penguins up by a pair, a seemingly insurmountable lead on this particular Monday night.

The Habs did not quit even after that goal, and with just under three minutes left to play they finally got on the board. Artturi Lehkonen kept the puck on a string, weaving through the Penguins’ defence to get a shot on goal. His shot created a rebound and it was Jesperi Kotkaniemi who was all over the rebound, slotting home his second goal in as many games, giving Montreal a glimmer of hope.

With Price on the bench the Canadiens pushed for an equalizer, but there wasn’t one to be found. Jake Guentzel put home an empty-netter to seal the game for Pittsburgh.

It’s a tough loss to stomach, but the performance of Price has to give a boost to the team knowing he’s more than capable of keeping the team in the game at all times. Game 3 is Wednesday night, where Montreal will be the home team with the benefit of last change. It remains to be seen if Claude Julien will tweak his lineup.

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

11 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

11 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

11 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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