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Maybe it’s nothing serious.
Then again, maybe it’s the beginning of the end.
Sports
Canucks’ Game 1 win over Edmonton Oilers raises uncomfortable question
The picture is all kinds of blurry right now in the wake of Vancouver’s rousing 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their much-anticipated playoff series.
The Oilers said over and over again before this showdown started that their 0-4 regular season record against the Canucks didn’t mean a thing — that they are a very different team than the one Vancouver rag-dolled in October and November — and spent the first 35 minutes of Game 1 proving it.
Their power play was clicking, their offence was cooking, they needed less than half a game to expose Vancouver’s rookie goalie and they had a commanding 4-1 lead on the road.
The universe was unfolding as it should.
Now, after a staggering four-goal collapse that had everyone who’s been watching the Oilers down the stretch and in the playoffs shaking their head in bewilderment, some unnerving thoughts are creeping into the discussion.
The Canucks, whose only hope was supposed to be a suffocating defensive posture, just beat the Oilers in a nine-goal game. They dominated play when it mattered most, they showed more composure, they got better goaltending, they scored the timely goals and they closed out the lead.
Consider that when it was 4-1 Edmonton with 6:49 to go in the second period, the Oilers had 14 shots on net. When it was 5-4 Vancouver with five minutes left in the game, the Oilers still had 14 shots.
In the most crucial times, with the game on the line, Vancouver was in charge. Just like they were in the regular season. And, suddenly, those four regular season victories are back on the table.
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Suddenly it’s fair to ask if maybe the Canucks didn’t post those early wins because the Oilers were in a funk during the first 11 games of the season, but maybe the Oilers were in a funk during the first 11 games of the season because they kept playing the Canucks.
That isn’t something the Oilers faithful even want to think about right now, much less believe, but at 5-0 this year the Canucks can fully argue that they have Edmonton’s number. Combine that with fact that teams winning Game 1 end up winning the series 68 per cent of the time and it gets spooky in a hurry.
And, if that wasn’t enough, the Canucks are starting to look like a team of destiny. They’re down to a third-string rookie goalie who closed out the last series with a shutout, they won a game with 12 shots on net, they won another one when they were losing 3-1 with 2:49 to play and now they turn 1-4 into 5-4 against the favoured Oilers in 17 wild minutes.
If you’re cheering for Edmonton, this is a lot to worry about.
Now, the Oilers were losing Game 1 of a playoff series when the Canucks were crossing their fingers at the draft lottery, so falling behind 1-0 to Vancouver isn’t going to rattle them.
But, make no mistake about it, they are one game away from being rattled. If the Canucks give them more of the same in Game 2 and go 6-0 on the year and 2-0 in the series, it going to be a very serious problem.
Right now, this is the part where the Oilers are supposed to keep their calm and do what they did after Los Angles gave them a similar slap in Game 2 of round one. Edmonton lost that game 5-4, Stuart Skinner wasn’t good (three goals on seven first period shots) and the team needed a response.
They got it. And this team’s overall body of work (45-15-5 down the heart of their stretch drive and a complete and convincing five-game win over Los Angeles) suggests they’ll get it again.
Skinner still has some playoff demons to exorcise, but the way he fought back after losing Game 2 to the Kings has you believing Wednesday night is the exception to who he is in the post-season now, not the rule.
And they will almost certainly get a better game from their captain. Connor McDavid couldn’t get much of anything done in Game 1. He was limited to one secondary assist, zero shots on net and went 28 per cent in the faceoff circle.
And they will all be saying a silent prayer that whatever it was that kept Leon Draisaitl out for half of the second period and slowed him in the third won’t be a problem in Game 2.
One way or another, the picture comes a little more into focus Friday night.
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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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s season ended by ruptured Achilles tendon, team said he’ll have surgery
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.”
Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.
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.
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