EDMONTON – The Vegas Golden Knights are so deep and strong, with size, speed and firepower throughout their lineup, it’s easy to overlook how well they defend.
The Vancouver Canucks got a reminder on Saturday when they fell behind by a couple of goals early and rarely threatened before losing 3-0 to the Knights, who shut down the neutral zone while opening a 2-1 lead in their Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
It was the second time in three games that goalie Robin Lehner has shut out the Canucks, who had one of the National Hockey League’s top-10 offences during the regular season. Vancouver managed only 14 five-on-five shots Saturday and trying to chase down a two-goal deficit against Vegas felt a little like trying to chase down a freight train.
The Canucks’ best chances were all early, when the team’s three power plays in the first 11 minutes included a 78-second five-on-three.
There is so little margin for error for the Canucks in this series that getting out-goaltended and out-special-teamed creates a gulf between the teams. Vancouver’s marvellous and unexpected playoff run will be a game away from ending if the Canucks don’t execute and finish better on Sunday when the teams play for the second time in 25 hours.
Livestream the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, plus every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet NOW.
“I thought we were unlucky to be down 2-0,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “That happens in playoff hockey. I think our team, sometimes when we get down we tend to overpass the puck a little bit. I thought we had a few too many east-west plays in the offensive zone, especially in the second period. I really liked our first period. Skated well, drew some penalties. Give their goalie credit.
“I think we easily could have been up after the first period, but that’s all part of playoff hockey. Sometimes you have a good period but you don’t win it. Sometimes you’re going to play well and it doesn’t go in the net.”
At one stage in the opening 20 minutes, shots were 15-5 for the Canucks while the score was 2-0 for the Knights.
Between those early power plays, when the Canucks tested Lehner nine times but couldn’t get a puck past him, the Knights managed to build its two-goal lead as Alex Tuch and Zach Whitecloud scored on top-corner shots 83 seconds apart, starting at 4:05.
Tuch blew past flat-footed Canucks defenceman Jordie Benn to skate on to Nicolas Roy’s bounce pass, then deftly controlled the puck before burying a rolling forehand over goalie Jacob Markstrom’s left shoulder.
Two shifts later, struggling Vancouver defenceman Quinn Hughes had the puck bounce away from him along the boards for a defensive-zone turnover. Hughes recovered to prevent an initial scoring chance, but Whitecloud swooped in from the blue line to collect the loose puck and shoot far side as Markstrom was being screened by Chris Tanev, Hughes’ partner.
It looked more like bad luck than a bad play by Hughes, but the 20-year-old struggled again to find or create any room at even-strength against the physical Knights.
When the Canucks eliminated the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues last series, Hughes looked like the best defenceman in the NHL. He hasn’t been the best in any of the games against the Knights, who have stapled the five-foot-10 defenceman more in three games than the Blues managed to tag him in six.
The Knights aren’t letting Hughes skate the puck up ice and at times the rookie looks less confident than he did last week when trying to beat a defender one-on-one.
“He’s a young guy finding his way through another round of the playoffs,” Green said of his franchise player. “I think he’s fine; I’m not worried about him at all. That (Vegas) team can chew up ice and take away time and space. They’ve got a lot of speed on their team. He’s adapting to it. He’s still doing a lot of good things on the power play. I’m not worried about him one bit. He’ll be fine.”
Hughes had two shots on goal in 26:22 of ice time and Vancouver was outshot 8-3 when he was on the ice at five-on-five. It was his best game of the series, but the Canucks need something special from their special player to be able to take down the Knights over seven games.
Also disconcerting for Vancouver was the lack of shots, hits and faceoffs for power forward J.T. Miller, who had only one shot in 23:30 of ice time — second only to Hughes’ time on ice. One of the best faceoff men in the NHL this season, Miller took only three draws, possibly indicating the hand or thumb he hurt blocking a shot early in the playoffs is becoming a bigger hindrance.
He’ll have little time to heal or rest in a playoff schedule further compressed by the two-day, player-driven shutdown this week to focus attention on racism and social justice.
Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said Saturday morning that he believes the hectic schedule favours the Knights.
“I’ve said from Day 1, I think that’s advantage to us,” DeBoer said. “The tighter the schedule, the more back-to-backs, the more your depth comes into play. And that’s at all positions. I think we welcome that. It tests your depth, it tests your character and we like where we are on those things.”
The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
