The Vancouver Canucks have a wardrobe malfunction. They’re short on belts.
Winger Alex Chiasson was awarded Saturday the gaudy wrestling belt coach Bruce Boudreau has introduced for his in-house player of the game. But they needed a whole rack of belts after the Canucks, whose playoff fantasy is becoming a little less improbable by the game, rallied in the third period on the road to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Hockey Night in Canada. Again.
Three weeks ago, it was a sublime 51-save goaltending performance by Thatcher Demko that stole the Canucks a 3-2 win against the Leafs in Vancouver. Demko was brilliant again in the third period Saturday, but the workload for the win was spread throughout the lineup, making the accomplishment far more meaningful.
Bumped down a line last game because Boudreau said Chiasson was unable to finish the chances he was getting playing with Elias Pettersson, the 31-year-old whacked in the winning goal at 6:55 of the third period.
Tanner Pearson, another reliable veteran who generally gets attention only when fans are unhappy with him, tied the game 4-4 on a deflection that squeezed through leaky Toronto goalie Jack Campbell at 1:03 of the third period, and Tyler Motte added an empty-netter on a pass by Pettersson.
The Canucks had six different goal scorers. But they also had huge defensive plays, like Conor Garland’s backcheck and Pearson’s dive late in the third period to deflect a pass headed to Auston Matthews. And, of course, they had Demko, who made 16 of his 34 saves in the final frame and stuffed Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares in the last two minutes.
“Played about as well in the third period as we could have played there in this building and being down a goal,” J.T. Miller, whose goal and assist moved him into 10th in NHL scoring, told reporters. “What it does is give us that much more belief.
“That’s one of the games you’re going to remember.”
“That’s the best offensive team we’ve played that we’ve come from behind on,” Boudreau said. “And you had it in their building. You have to tip your hat off to the guys for their resiliency. You know what? The best thing I liked was the bench and how happy they were and everybody jumping up. I mean, they were committed tonight, and that’s a great feeling when they do that.”
After a 3-1 road trip, and eight wins in their last 10 games, bookended by beating the Leafs, the Canucks are three points out of a playoff spot.
BRUCE, HERE IT IS
Saturday was the three-month anniversary of the Canucks replacing head coach Travis Green with Boudreau, and the team is 20-8-4 since then. Vancouver has gone from seven games under .500, to five games over .500. And, starting Wednesday, the Canucks have a season-long, seven-game homestand that includes contests against four teams firmly out of the playoff race.
Can the Canucks’ see that final playoff spot? They better not, because after so many recent, big wins, the last thing this team needs to do is look ahead or think that the hardest part of their miracle comeback is now over. The biggest issue the Canucks have had the last three weeks is consistency. They’ve been downright awful in their few losses.
It was only last Monday when Boudreau found the Canucks’ start “shocking” in a 7-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Players, including Miller, Pettersson and captain Bo Horvat, have all pledged greater consistency and more acute focus. Now is the time for the Canucks to show that.
“We get the next seven games at home,” Boudreau said. “I’ve used the phrase, ‘You’ve got to make hay when the sun shines.’ This is the time.”
TRIUMPH IN TORONTO
The Canucks’ last win in Toronto was Dec. 17, 2011. They had lost 12 straight road games to the Maple Leafs since then. Horvat has played 564 NHL games for the Canucks and been with them since 2014, but had never won in his home province.
“It has been a long time coming,” Horvat, who is from London, said. “(The Leafs) usually have my number since I’ve been here. I got some friends and family in the crowd tonight and to get a big win in front of them definitely feels great.
“We beat a lot of good hockey teams on this road trip. Obviously, it’s a successful road trip for us, and we’re heading back playing seven in a row. It should give us confidence, knowing we can beat some of the best teams in the league. But we can’t get too high on ourselves. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
QUOTEBOOK
Boudreau was so good when asked Saturday about Miller and Pearson, especially the latter’s defensive dive to deprive Matthews of what would have been an open look late in the third period, we figured we’d just let the coach have his say.
On Miller: “He’s a leader. He’s our leader offensively, and he’s our leader as a spokesperson. And I think a lot of the guys, you know, they follow him. I mean, he’s our real star. Every team has one, and I would say he’s our offensive star.”
On Pearson: “Well, he’s won two Cups (in Los Angeles). And there’s reasons that players play on winning teams. He’s been scoring key goals. And that play that you talked about was, to me, the play of the game. Coming back, that whole side was open and he tipped it out Matthews’s way.”
BUT DON’T MENTION THE 2011 BRUINS
Asked about the depth of scoring – 13 players had goals — during the Canucks’ four road games, Boudreau veered into a soliloquy about the balance of the Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins in 2011 and how if he could ever build a team, they would be his template. It’s probably better to avoid effusively praising the Bruins to a Vancouver audience. No reason, just saying.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
