The Canucks showed plenty of guts on Thursday in defeating the Arizona Coyotes in a tight-checking contest at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks were a little unfortunate to lose 4-0 on Tuesday in Winnipeg to the Jets. They fired 41 shots at the opposing net, hit countless posts and came away with no goals.
On Thursday, they got themselves some bounces and won a tight contest 3-1 over their divisional rivals, the Arizona Coyotes, at Rogers Arena.
Over the course of the game, the Coyotes slightly out-chanced the Canucks, but there was no case to be made that the visitors were robbed of a win.
The Canucks, quite simply, did what they had to do. There are still 34 games left to play in the regular season but with the Canucks now having playoff ambitions, this is the kind of game they’ll tell you they need to win.
They checked hard. They created chances when they could. And they, again, got solid goaltending from Jacob Markstrom, who made 34 saves on the night.
“It was tight. At times there wasn’t a lot of space. You had to make the right plays … and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” Quinn Hughes said.
The Canucks, who are now just one point behind the Coyotes while also holding two games in hand, got goals from Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen and Tanner Pearson into an empty net, while the Coyotes’ goal was scored by Christian Dvorak.
Here’s what we learned…
Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun (6) fights for control of the puck with Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers (57) during first period NHL action in Vancouver, Thursday, January 16, 2020.
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Mixing it up
Virtanen got the bump to the top line, swapping spots on right wing with Brock Boeser. Virtanen’s speed is an obvious difference between the two players, though Boeser has been a point-per-game player this season skating alongside Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.
The two wingers have been swapped for each other before this season; the most recent instance was Tuesday’s loss to the Jets.
“Felt it was good to switch it up the other night. We’ve been thinking about it lately. I’ve talked to both players about it. Not a big deal to them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point you see it go back the other way as well,” Travis Green said.
This was the 12th straight game we’ve seen Pearson, Horvat and Eriksson together as a line. They’ve scored 6 empty netters in that time, 2 for each of them.
Boeser struggled to mesh with Adam Gaudette and Antoine Roussel but Virtanen picked up his 14th goal of the season by banking a shot from behind the net off Coyotes goalie Adin Hill, who was scrambling across to cover what initially looked like Virtanen building towards a wraparound attempt.
It was a smart bit of play by the winger.
Though it looked like perhaps it was a bit of luck for Virtanen, who did seem to be mostly just putting the puck towards the top of the crease in the hopes one of his linemates would find it, he insisted post game it was intentional.
“I just saw the goalie kind of over-commit a little bit about when I took a quick glance up and and in junior I used to do that wraparound move so I thought I’d try it out and it worked,” he said.
Arizona Coyotes forward Derek Stepan (21) defends Vancouver Canucks forward Bo Horvat (53) in the first period.
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USA TODAY Sports
Third time’s the charm
Horvat’s power play goal came after the Canucks had already hit the post twice.
Patience makes perfect.
It was a Quinn Hughes shot that rang off the post and then bounced back into the slot, landing on the stick of the Canucks’ captain, who made no mistake in firing the puck back into the net past Hill.
The first power play unit hasn’t been able to find a goal of late, so Horvat’s exultation after firing the puck in the net was a reflection of relief as much as anything.
He also tried a between-the-legs shot in the second period after Loui Eriksson forced a turnover and slid the puck over to Horvat, who was alone in the slot, up against Hill.
“Thought I might have caught him a little off-guard,” Horvat said with a grin.
Arizona Coyotes left wing Taylor Hall (91) fights for control of the puck with Vancouver Canucks defenceman Christopher Tanev (8) during the first period.
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Quick hands
The Coyotes are known for being very hard-edged on defence. Finding scoring chances against them is a tough proposition.
Adding Taylor Hall was with a clear purpose: they wanted to give their offence a jet boost. Adding a former league MVP was an obvious move.
Hall showed off his talents on the game’s first goal, as he led a Coyotes rush into the zone, then, after losing the puck for a moment on the sideboards, was able to swat it down to his feet and then quickly dished to Dvorak, who fired the puck past Markstrom.
It was, however, a rare moment for him on the night as Horvat’s line checked Hall’s tightly.
Michael Grabner trips over Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom.
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Haulin’ oats
For a moment, it looked like Tyler Motte had made a great play at the blue-line, which led to a perfect Jay Beagle deflection of the puck into the Coyotes’ net.
But after Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet challenged the play for offside, the officials overturned the goal, acknowledging that the puck had left the zone despite Motte’s efforts.
While the officials consulted with the video officials upstairs in Rogers Arena and at the league office in Toronto, the Canucks’ production team played a video featuring clips from TV and movie history, with characters like Capt. Picard from Star Trek, CSI’s Gil Grissom, … all looking at screens and asking for other characters to freeze frames and zoom in on images.
It was a good laugh.
Then when the referees announced their decision against the Canucks, the arena DJ played Hall and Oates’ Out of Touch to serenade the men in stripes.
“I didn’t know what was going on, I’d just finished my check and I looked up and Motter had the puck,” Jay Beagle said about his goal that wasn’t.
“That was three feet offside,” his linemate Brandon Sutter said with a laugh. “I couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson (40) fights for control of the puck with Arizona Coyotes right wing Vinnie Hinostroza (13) during the first period.
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Playoff watch
While the Canucks pulled themselves closer to the Coyotes, the Calgary Flames seized first place in the Pacific Division, pushing Arizona down to second place, by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in a shootout.
The Vegas Golden Knights also won, defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 in newly-minted head coach Peter DeBoer’s first game behind the bench of his new team. VGK are tied with the Canucks in points, but sit behind them in games played.
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.
