Ah, a meaningful Battle of Alberta. Before the puck was even on the ice for this one we all knew how big it was and this one was much more than a simple BoA. It was a game that would have serious implications on how the season plays out.
And the Calgary Flames were the ones who came out on top moving into first place in the Pacific Division with their 4-3 win.
In fact, there’s only been two Battle of Alberta’s that have been this important this late in the season. The first was Jan. 13, 1988 — an Oilers win, and Feb. 25, 1990 — a Flames win. And tonight’s match had all the fireworks of a late ’80’s battle. It had the high-scoring prowess. Look at the scoreboard.
And boy, did it have the antics. Just look at the penalty sheet.
Most notably from tonight was that the @Zack Kassain – Matthew Tkachuk rivalry continued to rage. Early in the game Tkachuk caught Kassian with a hip check to the head area that sent the Oilers forward flying. Nothing came of it at the time, but Kassian kept Tkachuk’s number.
When the gritty Flames forward took another run at Kassian late in the second, things got out of hand. Kassian erupted trying to fight Tkachuk, but the Calgary Flame wanted none of it. On a subsequent penalty kill early in the third, the Flames scored in what was the ultimate dagger in the game. Edmonton had more than enough time in the third period — which included a late powerplay followed by time with an empty net — to get themselves back into it.
All in all, there’s still more to come out of what happened between Tkachuk and Kassian. I’d wonder if the NHL player safety would take a look at the first Tkachuk hit on Kassian as there was clear contact between Tkachuk’s hip and Kassian’s head. Kassian very well could face some kind of discipline for his antics.
What I do know, however, is that the Oilers played a strong game against a bitter rival further igniting what has been a rather tame Battle of Alberta for some time. These two teams square off again January 29th.
The Oilers got early returns for their decision to start Mikko Koskinen. The big Finn shut the door multiple times for the Oilers in the first few minutes of the period to keep it a scoreless game.
The first few minutes had that playoff feel, but it was clear that Calgary was ready for it. Edmonton, not so much. Elias Lindholm broke the scoring with a quick spinning, no-look shot that somehow found its way through Koskinen’s five-hole. 1-0 Flames.
And Edmonton got one of their own back 1:03 later when Kailer Yamamoto had a gorgeous cross-ice feed to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who fired a shot last Cam Talbot. 1-1.
Connor McDavid. What more can you say. The superstar snagged a puck away from a punching Noah Hanifin and used his incredible breakaway speed to give him a one-on-one with Cam Talbot. McDavid made a quick move to put the puck upstairs surely giving Talbot some nightmares to come. 2-1 Oilers.
But the battle didn’t stop there. With only 40 seconds left in the frame, Johnny Gaudreau bought himself some time taking a long wrist shot from the top of the left circle (that may have taken a bounce of Adam Larsson) and beyond Mikko Koskinen. 2-2 to end the first.
The Oilers finally had a soft goal go in their direction. Yeah, you read that right. The Oilers got their third goal of the game to regain the lead a minute and a half into the second period when the team capitalized on Gaudreau blowing a tire in his own zone. Yamamoto was there to snag the puck and whip it across the ice to a streaking Nugent-Hopkins, whose shot deflected off the skate of Gaudreau and past Talbot. 3-2 Oilers.
After forgetting to show up for the first half of the second period, the Flames scored an ugly goal of their own with a little over eight minutes left in the period. A weird bounce turned the puck over in the Oilers own zone and while Koskinen was able to make a quick first save, Dillon Dube was able to smack home the rebound. 3-3.
With five and a quarter left in the second, the Oilers should have had the fourth goal of the game. James Neal broke in on the left of Talbot firing a quick wrist shot, but the Flames netminder was able to get across and make a blocker save.
Things got hairy with a few minutes left int he frame. For the second time tonight, Matthew Tkachuk laid a questionable hit on Zack Kassian and well, things got ugly. Kassian grabbed Tkachuk and didn’t stop swinging as he ragdolled Tkachuk to the ice. The Flames forward refused to fight back, and Kassian was handed a 10-minute misconduct and a four-minute double minor for roughing.
If you had hopes that the Oilers would bail out Kassian for his penalty, you were wrong. Calgary had under two minutes of powerplay time and Elias Lindholm found twine on a long wrist shot. 4-3 Flames.
The third period felt rather uneventful with no goals scored, nor any further antics between the two clubs.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
