VANCOUVER – An emotional two-week homestand that included a serious injury, a major trade, a giant retirement ceremony and a lot of angst over the standings ended Saturday for the Vancouver Canucks with this chant rolling down from the pews: “We want 10! We want 10!”
The fans were talking about goals. Against the Boston Bruins.
The Canucks steadied themselves in the National Hockey League playoff race and made an unforgettable homestand also a successful one by battering the mighty Bruins 9-3 at Rogers Arena. Against the league’s best team, which had lost in regulation only 11 times all season, the Canucks scored two goals in the first period, three in the second and four in the third in their greatest offensive explosion on home ice in 24 years.
As they head to Montreal for Monday’s trade deadline and Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens to open a four-game trip, the Canucks are four points clear of the playoff cut line in the Western Conference after going 3-2-1 at Rogers Arena.
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They endured a potentially season-ending rib injury to Brock Boeser, who was replaced by Tyler Toffoli after a major trade with the Los Angeles Kings, and saw what had been a nine-point playoff cushion early in February contract to as little a two points.
No wonder veteran winger J.T. Miller said during the homestand that the key to everything was controlling emotions and maintaining focus.
“There were a lot of good reasons to want to get up against them for this game,” Miller said late Saturday. “Obviously, we wanted to put a better foot forward against them than we did a couple of weeks ago (when the Canucks lost 4-0 in Boston). They’re the best team in the league. Saturday game, crowd was awesome, a big rivalry that I’m new to. Obviously, against a team like that, you’re not going to score nine. . . ever. But we played a really good game tonight. It feels really good in here.”
“It always is a challenge,” captain Bo Horvat said of managing emotions, “especially during trade deadline. You never know who’s coming or who’s going. But a lot of positives came out of tonight.
“We were all ready to go before this game. It was obviously a huge game for us against a great hockey team. We were all ready to go from the start.”
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Canucks defenceman Troy Stecher, the hometown boy at the epicentre of trade conjecture this week, scored just 4:14 into the game and Vancouver led for all but four of the final 56 minutes.
Impressively, they got stronger as the game went on and were able to respond whenever the Bruins pressed.
A little lucky to trail only 2-1 after an opening period that saw the Canucks outshoot them 17-11, the Bruins linked together some strong shifts early in the second only to see Vancouver absorb that pressure and score three more goals.
After the lead peaked at 6-1 on Elias Pettersson’s goal early in the third, David Pastrnak and Chris Wagner scored just 1:43 apart to make it 6-3 and create some of that Bruin-driven anxiety in Vancouver that has existed to varying degrees since Boston won the 2011 Stanley Cup in Rogers Arena. Then the Canucks responded with three more goals.
Two games after his trade from L.A., Toffoli scored his first for the Canucks at 11:10 of the final frame, and added another two minutes later. On both, the winger picked his spot from the slot, and his 20 goals this season are eclipsed on the Canucks only by Pettersson’s 25 and Miller’s 24.
“I feel a lot better after doing that,” Toffoli said. “Just building off of it, I think is the key. Just keep getting better, build the chemistry. It’s a great group.”
Is it? The Canucks believe so, but a newcomer’s perspective is always interesting.
“Everybody, I feel, is just a genuine really good guy and wants each other to do well,” Toffoli, who won a Stanley Cup with the Kings, explained. “I mean, I scored the seventh goal and guys were happy for me. That’s the vibe it is. Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to do well. We just have to keep building and keep having fun.”
When Jake Virtanen whistled a shot from distance past goalie Jaroslav Halak, who replaced Bruins starter Tuukka Rask when the score was 6-1, the crowd began chanting for a 10th goal.
Saturday was the 20th time this season the Canucks have scored at least five times in a game. The Bruins had allowed more than five goals only once all year.
Tanner Pearson and Loui Eriksson also scored for Vancouver playing with Horvat on a line that outplayed the Bruins’ top trio of Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron head-to-head. Adam Gaudette had the other Canucks goal, and 14 of 18 Vancouver skaters collected at least a point.
Stecher finished with three, adding two assists to his game-opening goal on his best night of the season.
“I didn’t change anything; it’s called luck for a reason,” Stecher said, referring to own-goals that went against him the previous two games. “Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. At the end of the day, it’s another hockey game.”
It was another two points, but not just another hockey game.
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.
