Game in 10: Sloppy mistakes, rough game from (a still sick) Ilya Samsonov results in a Patrick Kane hat trick as Maple Leafs fall 5-3 in Chicago | Canada News Media
Despite coming back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game at 3-3, the Maple Leafs weren’t able to complete the comeback and dropped another game to a team at the bottom of the standings.
We’ve been through this song and dance with the Leafs several times this season against bottom-feeding teams (and the schedule situation — tired vs. rested — certainly didn’t help): They possessed the puck a lot, but they were guilty of some sloppy turnovers and decision-making that kept them behind the eight-ball and had them chasing the game for most of the night. Especially on the road in a tired situation, catch-up hockey is often losing hockey in the NHL, regardless of the opponent.
Your game in 10:
1. The game started a little sloppily for the Leafs. Unlike the electrifying opening moments on Saturday against Montreal, Toronto started the game on their heels and looked like the tired team (which they were), with the Hawks generating a few early chances.
After the opening five minutes, the Leafs started to pick up some steam, primarily as a result of Auston Matthews’ physical play along the boards and soft hands slicing through the neutral zone, allowing the top line to generate some offensive-zone time.
2. Despite the Leafs getting their legs back under them following a slow start, the Hawks struck first. Following a John Tavares OZ turnover, Chicago took off in transition. Patrick Kane cut to the middle of the ice and sent it across to Max Domi who was cutting up the middle. Domi dropped it back to Kane, who slowed down and let the play develop in front of him.
After Domi entered the zone with speed, Timothy Liljegren sagged off and afforded the time and space for Kane to patiently survey the ice and rip a shot through him and past Ilya Samsonov.
A bit of a weird goal for Samsonov, who might’ve been screened partially by his own defender, but Liljegren also could’ve played a tighter gap on Kane after he handed Domi off to Mark Giordano on the rush defense.
3. It didn’t take long for the Leafs to reply, and it all started with an incredible shift by Auston Matthews.
As the Hawks came in on the rush, Matthews sprawled to defend a cross-ice pass. After regaining his feet, he grabbed the puck and drew a penalty before dominating the shift with the delayed man advantage.
The Hawks eventually touched the puck and officially started the power play, where it took Toronto just nine seconds to convert. After the Hawks won the faceoff and rang the puck behind the net, Matthews raced to it and worked it back to William Nylander at the point. Nylander quickly swung the puck over to Morgan Rielly, who snapped a low shot on goal that was deflected in by Tavares in front.
With an assist on the play, Morgan Rielly logged his 400th career point. Rielly currently sits fifth in Leafs’ history for points by a defenseman, and by the end of the season, he should threaten to surpass Ian Turnbull’s rank in the history books (414 points).
4. The second period started off rather quietly; the Leafs were controlling the play a bit more, but there weren’t any significant chances generated on either side. That is until Kane’s second goal of the night restored Chicago’s lead.
Following another Leafs’ turnover — this time it was a defensive-zone giveaway as a Matthews pass evaded Justin Holl — Domi picked up the puck and found Kane heading downhill into the slot.
As Kane patiently glided into a dangerous area, this time Rielly played Kane a little loosely while Samsonov bit on a fake shot while sliding laterally. Kane waited for Samsonov to open up and slid the puck through the wickets for his second of the night.
5. Kane wasn’t done tormenting the Leafs. Chicago entered the zone with a 4v3 rush, and the initial shot from Connor Murphy was stopped, but the rebound rattled around and bounced to Kane at the side of the goal. With Samsonov scrambling, Kane calmly skated below the goal line, where he kept his hips open to the middle of the ice, backed away behind the goal, and he saw an opening to bank the puck off of Samsonov.
At first, it wasn’t quite clear if the puck completely crossed the line, but after review, there was no question that Kane scored a hat trick goal and extended the Hawks’ lead to 3-1. A scrambly bit of goaltending from Samsonov on this one.
6. Down by two, the Leafs were in need of a spark. Fortunately, they were able to get one from their depth pieces as one of their new acquisitions was the one to make a play.
Noel Acciari scored his first as a Leaf on a play that came thanks in large part to the work of David Kämpf. After Alex Kerfoot threw a shot on goal from the side boards that Acciari deflected up high over the traffic in front, Kämpf reached up, grabbed it out of the air, and dropped it on the ice in front of him, before immediately swatting the puck back toward the slot. The puck crawled out front right to Acciari in front, where he made no mistake swatting it into the net.
7. Even outside of the goal to bring the Leafs back within one, I thought new Leaf Noel Acciari had a very nice game for the second night in a row. Whether it’s defending the cycle, pressing on the forecheck, or killing penalties, Acciari is a fierce competitor who has a high win percentage in his puck battles in the trenches. It translates into an ability to force his way into the hard areas of the ice to score goals as well.
11 goals and 19 points in 56 games this season, all of which have been recorded at even strength or shorthanded, is nothing to shake a stick at. A sorely needed addition to the team’s bottom-six mix, the value of Acciari’s consistent work ethic and simple but effective game shined through in this game on a team that was showing the effects of a tired situation.
The fourth line with Acciari, ZAR, and Kerfoot posted a 93% xGF and outshot the opposition 7-1 at five-on-five.
8. It didn’t feel like the Leafs opened the final stanza with a tremendous sense of urgency. Sure, they were pushing a little bit for offense, but there wasn’t an abundance of energy on display. The effects of playing on the second half of a back-to-back with travel seemed to be weighing on them. Enter a perfectly-executed set play by two of the Leafs’ offensive leaders.
Mitch Marner hit the red line and turned on the gas, heading full steam ahead toward the Chicago zone. Rielly identified the set-play opportunity in motion and fired the puck all the way down the ice for a bank pass off the end boards. Marner picked it up in the right circle and cut across the net for a beauty finish to even things up.
9. Mitch Marner nearly scored a second goal just moments later, ripping a one-timer off the post as a Hawks defender barely got a stick in the way to disrupt the shot slightly. Toronto continued to generate chances, and while they couldn’t get another shot past Jaxson Stauber, it felt like if they stuck with it, they were going to find their way through in this game.
However, they perhaps pushed a little too hard and forced it in search of a game-winner as a four-man rush attempt came back to haunt them for the game-losing goal.
After a cross-ice pass went right through the lower slot, the puck bounced off the corner and onto the stick of Cole Guttman, who took off in transition with three Leaf forwards and TJ Brodie caught deep. With Conor Timmins caught a little bit in between when defending the 2v1, Guttman took his opportunity and ripped it home past Samsonov for his first career NHL goal.
10. The Leafs pressed for an equalizer to no avail as the Hawks added an empty-netter to ice the game and win by a score of 5-3. The inability to win the season series over either Columbus (1-1) or Chicago (1-1) has been a little frustrating this month as the Leafs have collected just four of the eight points on offer. That said, Toronto didn’t look entirely lifeless like they did in the final 40 minutes against the Blue Jackets a week ago.
Samsonov — coming off or still battling an illness, mind you — didn’t have a great game, and the Leafs needed a save on at least one of the goals he allowed. Stauber put together a pretty nice game for the Hawks at the other end, saving 1.46 goals above expected in this one.
The Rasmus Sandin minor injury forcing TJ Brodie over to the left with Conor Timmins on a makeshift pairing — and Morgan Rielly to pair off with Justin Holl — didn’t help matters, but another area to keep an eye on was the team’s third line of David Kampf, Pierre Engvall, and Calle Jarnkrok getting outshot 7-1 and outscored 1-0 at five-on-five after a good night for this line against Montreal.
While none of these teams are world-beaters, the likes of the Sabres, Kraken, and Wild do present more quality depth than any of the Habs, Blackhawks, or Blue Jackets teams we’ve seen recently. We’ll keep an eye on whether Ryan O’Reilly is given a look at third-line center with John Tavares back in the middle at some point.
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.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
