Sports

Dahlin scores in fifth straight game, Sabres spoil Canucks home opener

Published

2 years ago

October 23, 2022

VANCOUVER — Rasmus Dahlin scored for a fifth straight game and also had an assist for the Buffalo Sabres, who spoiled the Vancouver Canucks home opener with a 5-1 win at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Victor Olofsson had two goals and an assist, Alex Tuch and Zemgus Girgensons scored, and Craig Anderson made 29 saves for the Sabres (4-1-0), who have won the first three games of a four-game road trip that will conclude at the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

“I think it starts from hard work, and we really deserve this confidence we have right now,” Dahlin said. “We’re playing away games, but we’re playing them really, really good and we’re really starting to find our game. So yeah, our confidence level is high right now.”

Conor Garland scored, and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves for the Canucks (0-4-2), who remain the NHL’s only team without a win and failed for the sixth straight time to get coach Bruce Boudreau his 600th NHL victory.

“My job is to help us find a way out of this,” Boudreau said. “So I’ll be doing whatever I can to see what I can do to get this thing turned around. Their job should be, individually, ‘What can I do to turn this thing around?’ That’s what I’d feel if they booed us off the ice like this. I would hope our pride kicks in.”

Dahlin put Buffalo ahead 1-0 at 5:35 of the first period with a point shot that deflected past a screened Demko on the power play. Dahlin was already the first defenseman in NHL history to score in the first four games of a season and is now the first defenseman in Sabres history to score a goal in five straight games.

“I’m not trying to think about it,” Dahlin said. “I was into [the defensive] zone for 80 percent of this game, but when situations happen out there, I try to score, so it feels good when the puck goes in.”

Dahlin may downplay his scoring streak, but it has left a strong impression on the rest of the Sabres.

“He’s making plays that kind of reminds me of when Erik Karlsson was at the top of his game,” Anderson said. “He was doing things with the puck that you just wouldn’t expect him to do because he had that confidence, and [Dahlin] is there in his own game. I’m not comparing him to Erik, but I’m comparing him to that confidence, that swagger with the puck that he has to be able to make those plays. He’s just playing loose and letting his skill and ability take over right now.”

Tuch, who screened Demko on Dahlin’s goal, made it 2-0 at 15:18. Jeff Skinner forced a turnover in the slot that left Tuch behind the Vancouver defense for a spinning shot under the blocker of Demko.

Tuch has scored in four straight games, including a hat trick in a 6-3 win at the Calgary Flames on Thursday, tying the longest streak of his NHL career.

Garland cut it to 2-1 at 13:27 of the second period with a one-timer from the left hash marks on a power play, but the Sabres extended their lead early in the third.

Olofsson finished off a 2-on-1 by one-timing a cross-ice pass from Casey Mittelstadt to make it 3-1 at 1:54. The goal came 26 seconds after Sabres forward Vinnie Hinostroza hit both posts on a wrist shot from the slot, which was called a goal before a video review showed the puck didn’t cross the goal line.

“It was nice to get that quick goal right away and kill momentum for them,” Olofsson said. “We took over after that.”

Gurgensons shot into an empty net at 16:31 to make it 4-1, and Olofsson beat a sprawling Demko off a cross-crease pass from Dahlin at 17:21 for the 5-1 final.

“His skill is just taking over,” Olofsson said of Dahlin. “The last goal was a disgusting play by him, and he’s just taking it to another level this year.”

Vancouver, which had surrendered a lead in its first five games, has been outscored 13-1 in the third period this season.

“Pretty frustrating,” forward J.T. Miller said. “We left [Demko] out to dry there in the last 10 minutes. We had a chance to win going into the third. Up until the third period, I thought we were playing in a pretty good game. To come out and play a third like that given our situation was tough to swallow.”

NOTES: Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who was playing on the top pairing with Dahlin, left with 2:57 remaining in the second period after falling awkwardly in the corner checking Canucks forward Curtis Lazar. Samuelsson was clutching his right knee as he lay on the ice before being helped off and limping to the locker room, but Buffalo coach Don Granato said the early word was positive. “We won’t know more obviously until tomorrow, but I was holding my breath like everyone else and you’re wondering what type of news you’re going to get, so much happier after I heard where he’s at,” Granato said. … Vancouver’s top defenseman, Quinn Hughes, was a late scratch and is day to day with a lower-body injury. … Canucks defenseman Jack Rathbone was minus-3 in 17:55 in his season debut. … Mittelstadt had two assists in his 200th NHL game. … Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin had three hits and blocked three shots in 20:37 after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. … Vancouver defenseman Noah Juulsen played 11:18 after being recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Saturday.

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

Published

9 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

AP NBA:

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Sports

Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

Published

9 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Sports

PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

Published

9 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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