Elias Lindholm and Adam Ruzicka each had a goal and assist on Saturday night as the Calgary Flames ended a seven-game winless skid with a 3-2 NHL victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
Trevor Lewis also scored for Calgary (6-6-2) while defenceman Rasmus Andersson chipped in with a pair of assists.
Neal Pionk and Pierre-Luc Dubois replied for Winnipeg (8-4-1), who entered the night on a 6-0-1 tear and possession of the league’s third-longest active points streak.
Calgary native Josh Morrissey had two assists to continue his red-hot start. The Jets’ leading scorer is already up to 13 assists, which is halfway to his career high of 26 set in 2019-20.
Getting the start for the Flames, Jacob Markstrom made 21 stops to improve to 5-3-2. Among his stops was a highlight-reel effort in the first when he slid across the crease, stacking his pads and windmilling out his catching hand to rob Mark Scheifele.
Connor Hellebuyck finished with 32 stops at the other end. His record falls to 7-3-1.
The key sequence in the game happened late in the second period with the scored tied 2-2.
Ten seconds into a holding penalty to Flames defenceman Mackenzie Weegar, Mikael Backlund broke in on a two-on-one and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Lewis who went forehand to backhand as he cut across the top of the crease to give Calgary its third lead of the night.
With the Jets still on the power play for another 1:50, Backlund got the puck going down the wing again, but this time his attempted dump-in hit the referee instead and with Calgary caught mid-line change, Winnipeg transitioned back up the ice on what would have been a two-man breakaway, only to go offside.
But after the whistle, Andersson bumped Dubois into Markstrom causing a melee behind the Flames’ net with the result being a tripping penalty on Markstrom and a two-man advantage for the visitors for 79 seconds.
But Calgary’s maligned penalty kill came through to preserve the lead and ultimately the victory. After giving up power-play goals in seven straight games, the Flames have gone a perfect 8-for-8 in the last two games including 3-for-3 against the Jets.
Down 2-1 after the first period, Winnipeg tied it at 4:23 taking advantage of a lapse in defensive coverage by the Flames that left Dubois wide open for a tap-in after being set up neatly by Morrissey.
Calgary had taken its second lead at 17:22 of the first on a pretty set up from Lindholm who spotted Ruzicka steaming toward the net and set him up with a cross-ice pass that the Slovakian buried for his first of the season.
A healthy scratch through 10 of the first 11 games, Ruzicka was playing his third consecutive game and doing so in place of injured Jonathan Huberdeau (upper body) on the left side of the Flames’ No. 1 line with Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli.
Ruzicka was also a central figure in Calgary’s opening goal at 3:23, flinging a backhand toward the front of the net from the corner that glanced off the stick of Lindholm in front and squeaked between Hellebuyck’s pads.
Pionk tied it 1-1 at 14:46 of the first when his point shot caromed in off Flames’ defenceman Connor Mackey.
FIRST GOAL WINS
Flames scored first for the sixth game in a row, but the team’s seven-game winless skid is proof that it hasn’t been the recipe for success like it was a year ago. Calgary entered the night with a .250 winning percentage (2-4-2) which tied them with the Ottawa Senators for last in the NHL.
TANEV’S RETURN
After missing five games with an upper body injury, Calgary welcomed back veteran defenceman Chris Tanev. However, he did not return to his regular D pairing, instead partnering with Mackey, who returned after being a healthy scratch the past two games. Nick DeSimone and Dennis Gilbert, who began the season in the minors but had been the Flames’ third pairing for the past two games, were both scratches.
UP NEXT
Jets: Are back in action Sunday night when they complete their short weekend road trip in Seattle against the Kraken.
Flames: Calgary plays host to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, before heading back on the road for a six-game trip.
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.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
