VANCOUVER — A hat trick from Brandon Sutter lifted the Vancouver Canucks to a 7-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
It was a much-needed victory for Vancouver (3-5-0), which had not won in regulation since its season opener on Jan. 13.
Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist for the home team, while Tyler Motte, Quinn Hughes and Olli Juolevi also scored. Bo Horvat tallied two assists.
Ottawa’s (1-4-1) lone marker came from Austin Watson midway through the second period, with assists from Thomas Chabot and Mike Reilly.
Thatcher Demko had 34 saves and collected his first win of the season for the Canucks.
Sens goalie Matt Murray stopped 28-of-35 shots.
With just 54 seconds left on the game clock, Sutter snuck his third goal of the night in behind the Ottawa goaltender.
Juolevi beat Murray with a long-range blast to make the score 6-1 three minutes earlier.
It was the Finnish defenceman’s first NHL goal.
Hughes had widened Vancouver’s lead to four 12:12 into the final frame after Horvat’s shot clinked off both posts. The young defenceman deftly snatched up the rebound and deposited it home
Watson got Ottawa on the board 11:58 into the second, deflecting in a shot from Chabot, despite having two Canucks defenders draped all over him. Demko didn’t appear to see the puck until it was behind him in the net.
Vancouver was quick to regain the two-goal lead.
Thirty seconds after Watson scored, Horvat won a draw in his own zone and sent the puck to Nils Hoglander in the neutral zone. Hoglander chased the puck over Vancouver’s blue line and dived, poking it to Pearson. The left-winger fired a wrist shot past Murray for his first goal of the season.
Sutter padded Vancouver’s lead with a short-handed marker, his second goal of the night, 17:44 into the second frame.
Canucks winger J.T. Miller had been called for slashing on Ottawa’s prized rookie Tim Stutzle, drawing the ire of some Sens players. Chants of “boot him!” emanated from the ice as Miller made his way to the box.
Artem Anisimov blasted a shot at Demko on the ensuing power play and the Canucks netminder dived backwards to make the stop.
Antoine Roussel picked up the loose puck and got it to Sutter, who streaked down the ice and took a wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle that found the top-left corner of the net.
The veteran centre already had a highlight-reel-worthy goal on the night, having flicked a diving backhand in past Murray 9:31 into the first frame.
Motte put the Canucks up 2-0 before the end of the first, stealing the puck as Ottawa tried to clear it from deep within their own end as Vancouver changed lines.
Motte sent a pass to Beagle, who waited for the right moment to put it back on the Winger’s tape. Motte then buried a snap shot from the top of the crease.
Roussel and Josh Brown drop the gloves midway through the third period, with boisterous encouragement from their respective benches. Neither seemed to get a blow in before the pair were separated by officials and sent to the box.
Tempers flared again shortly after Hughes scored. Watson took umbrage with Zack McEwen’s hit on Brady Tkachuk and faced off with the big forward at centre ice. They continued to have words in the box and their teammates appeared to exchange verbal jabs from the benches.
Monday’s matchup was the first in a three-game series between Ottawa and Vancouver. The Canucks will play host again on Wednesday and Thursday.
NOTES: Stutzle returned to the Sens lineup after missing three games with a wrist injury. ? Vancouver has allowed more goals (34) than any other team in the league this season.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
