Sports

Canadiens vs. Senators recap: Montreal’s top line rolls – Habs Eyes on the Prize

Published

3 years ago

October 3, 2021

Less than 24 hours after the Ottawa Senators thumped the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 in the nation’s capital, the two sides met again, this time at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The lineup was very different than the one that was crushed on Friday night. Notably, it featured the return of Brendan Gallagher, in Cole Caufield’s spot, alongside Nick Suzuki.

It also saw Ryan Poehling slide into the second-line centre role, flanked by Artturi Lehkonen and Jesse Ylönen, while Mathieu Perreault centred the third line alongside Laurent Dauphin and Gabriel Bourque. In net Cayden Primeau was given the full 60 minutes for the Habs, while Michael McNiven backed him up.

The game started with a continuation of the physicality that popped up at moments the previous night. Scott Sabourin grabbed Brandon Baddock as he was skating away and began throwing punches, earning an extra two minutes in the box while the Canadiens’ power play went to work.

The man advantage moved the puck well, forcing the Senators’ penalty-killers to scramble constantly, but their shots on net were swallowed up by Anton Forsberg. Once the play returned to even strength, the Canadiens drew another penalty as Laurent Dauphin caught the Ottawa defence flat-footed as he circled the net.

The second Montreal power play was not as pretty as the first as the Senators generated the best chances on short-handed rushes, but Primeau was equal to the task as Ottawa got their second kill of the period. Then, because that’s how the game had gone up to that point, Montreal then headed to their first penalty kill of the night after they were called for cross-checking.

Much like their counterparts, the Canadiens’ penalty-killers were steadfast in the defensive zone, clearing out any rebounds and stifling the Senators’ man advantage to keep the game goalless.

That latter part did not last much longer however, as the Senators cycled around the Habs zone, eventually with Erik Brannstrom lining up to shoot. The young defender’s shot looked like it was heading right for the pileup in front of Primeau, but a deft tip by Tim Stützle lifted it past the screened Primeau and put the Habs down by a goal late in the first.

The penalty parade continued, this time with Arber Xhekaj sitting for a cross-checking penalty. The Montreal penalty kill remained as strong as its first showing, not allowing the Senators any space to operate, and the entire kill was capped off with Alexander Romanov catching Ridly Greig with his head down, hammering him as he tried to enter the Habs’ zone with the puck.

The period ended with the Senators still sitting on their one-goal lead, but with plenty of the game left to play.

It looked like Montreal had opened the scoring in the second period as Jeff Petry pulled off a wraparound, but his shot stayed directly along the goal line, and despite the official signalling that it was a good goal, the puck never crossed the line.

The Canadiens were doing well to control the flow of play as the period wore on, but they were not able to find a tying goal against Forsberg. An odd-man rush for the Sens drew a hooking call as Petry got his stick around Connor Brown’s wrists to break up the play.

Montreal’s penalty kill remained perfect on the night, even with their leading penalty-killer sitting in the box, and the game returned to even strength with the Habs still looking for their first goal of the night. It wasn’t for a lack of trying though, as Petry sent J.-C. Beaudin in alone on net, but the AHL forward failed to solve Forsberg as well.

The Canadiens soon found themselves back on the power play as Tyler Toffoli drew an interference call as he flew into the Ottawa zone. The second unit started the power play, and with Jesse Ylönen acting as the trigger man the Habs mounted a massive attack against the Ottawa penalty-killers. Forsberg remained unbeaten as he robbed Ylönen on what looked like an empty net, but the Habs got a bit of good luck when the next unit took the ice. Josh Brown went to clear the puck, but had his stick crumble in his hands. The puck trickled right to Gallagher, who wasted no time roofing the errant pass by Forsberg to finally get Montreal on the board.

A late Senators power play was again shut down by the Canadiens’ penalty-killers and the teams headed into the final period tied at one goal apiece.

It was another fast start for the Canadiens in the third period as the top line went to work, and found a goal in just 21 seconds. Toffoli worked behind the net and threw a pass out front where Gallagher fanned on the chance, but Suzuki calmly walked in behind him and wired the shot by Filip Gustavsson to put Montreal on top.

With the lead in their grasp, the Habs were content to play safe hockey, slowly pushing the Senators back out of the attacking areas, and getting the puck in deep when that space was given to them. Montreal nearly added a goal a handful of times on a late power play, but Poehling was inches off on his chances at the side of the net.

In the end it didn’t matter much as the Canadiens saw out the end of the game, even with Ottawa pulling their goalie, to secure the win at home in front of 7,500 fans at the Bell Centre.

Montreal has a few days off now to sift through their next round of cuts and do more theoretical work before a third game with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night.

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Sports

Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

8 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.

Source link

Sports

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

Published

8 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.

Source link

Sports

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

Published

8 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.

Source link