Some free lessons there to say the least. Final Score: 2-1 Blues
After picking up a big win in Dallas and quieting the nerves of Oilers fans everywhere, the boys were back at it against another tough opponent in the St. Louis Blues. Obviously, going up against the defending champs is never an easy task, something we saw on full display here tonight, but I also felt like the Oilers had a chance to close out a win provided that they played the way they can. When they’re crossing their ‘T’s and dotting their ‘I’s the Oilers are a tough team to handle, but as we all know, the problem comes with doing it consistently. Over the course of their four-game losing streak, Edmonton gave up far too many goals and seemed generally disjointed in their own end, often shooting themselves in the foot and ruining their chances at a win just as we saw with the wasted comebacks against Buffalo, Carolina, and Minnesota, something that simply could not happen again against the Blues. I believed in a win and I believed in our boys!
The last time these two teams played, Jake Allen stole the show for the Blues and I was really hoping for another quick start for the Oilers that could put the netminder back on his heels a little bit. Unfortunately, it was the visitors that were back on their heels early on as defensive lapses gave the Blues all kinds of extra opportunities to maintain the zone and fire pucks on net. Thankfully, Koskinen was rock solid in net, but it would have been nice if his teammates had been smarter with their puck choices as to not lean on him so much. To put it another way, this thing would have been ugly without him. Moving into the second period, things didn’t get much better as the Blues continued to dominate on the shot clock while the Oilers hung on for dear life and hoped for the best, seemingly unable to throw any kind of counterpunch whatsoever. Frankly, the fact that they were only down by a single goal heading into the third period was a testament to Koskinen’s game rather than a tip of the cap to the team in front of him. This game was lopsided as hell, but with their goaltender playing lights out the Oilers still somehow had a chance at points they didn’t deserve.
Down by a goal with 20 minutes to play, the Oilers were going to need to be either way better than they had been for the first two periods or hope for some kind of miracle because this game was not as close as the score might indicate. And while the Oilers inched their way closer in the dying moments, there was no comeback to be had on this night as the Blues were simply too strong defensively and did an excellent job of capitalizing on their opportunities. From start to finish, the Blues made better choices with the puck, supported each other well in all three zones, and showed the Oilers exactly how a contender looks when they play defence.
James Neal scored late in the third period to bring the Oilers back to within a single goal after finding a loose puck in the scramble and sinking in behind Allen when he slid way out of the net.
Mikko Koskinen was back between the pipes for his third straight start and looking to build upon the strong performance he put in against the Stars on Monday night. And while he didn’t get the win that he probably deserved considering the performance he put in, it is very easy and obvious to say that he was the best Edmonton Oiler tonight by a substantial margin. Full stop. Case closed. To put it lightly, had it not been for Koskinen, who knows what the score might have been and the fact that the game ended as close as it did was because he stood on his head and kept the team in it. Koskinen finished the night with 42 saves and a .955 save%.
Adam Larsson was easily the Oilers best defenceman in my mind and played tough minutes in all situations. He was even forced to moonlight as a goaltender for a moment in the second period after he made a huge kick save that stopped a sure goal for the Blues.
Big ups to Zack Kassian on his 500th game, which is even more incredible to think about when you consider his pre-Oilers history. Congrats on the milestone, sir!
The Oilers were great on the PK, killing off all five penalties they took. A lot of the credit can go to Koskinen for those kills, but it’s only fair to admit that the team was very good when down a man.
I thought Caleb Jones was steady on the third pairing tonight and he made some nice reads with the puck that should be acknowledged.
Photo: BlueMan.com
Brayden Schenn opened the scoring for the Blues with a breakaway goal after sneaking his way behind the Oilers’ defence and snapping a shot past Koskinen after the visitors were unable to gain entry to the offensive zone and gave the puck up at the blue line.
All night long, Edmonton had a real knack for giving the puck up at the opposing blue line and that’s exactly what happened on MacKenzie MacEachern’s third period goal. As we saw with the first one, the Oilers simply could not gain entry into the offensive zone and gave the puck away near the line. From there, the Blues were able to turn the play around and bury one at the other end, punishing the Oilers with a pair of avoidable goals.
The Oilers were way too loose defensively throughout this game and it gave the Blues all kinds of undeserved offensive opportunities that were completely needless. As has been the trend of late, the boys were flying the zone too early and the defencemen were then forced into plays they shouldn’t have been making.
Edmonton desperately needed their power play to come through with a goal tonight but they just couldn’t get one in any of their four chances with the man advantage. That said, I know a few of their power plays were abbreviated but I didn’t necessarily feel like they were getting much done with the time they did have either.
For the second game in a row, I have NOT been a fan of the Khaira-Nuge-Chiasson line as they got absolutely dominated at even strength. I don’t know what Tippett sees in that trio but clearly he and I are not on the same page on this one.
There were a bunch of free lessons for Ethan Bear tonight as he had a hard time dealing with St. Louis’ relentless pressure in the defensive end. And while that may seem like a negative thing to say, these are the games he’ll have to work through as he continues to build his young NHL resume. He’ll get through them and I feel like going through games like this will only make him better in the long run.
I’m going to go ahead and ask that Ken Holland make a move soon because watching the Oilers get caved in at 5-on-5 has been really tough to watch.
Brayden Schenn (15) ASST: Vince Dunn (5), Jaden Schwartz (16)
0-1
3RD PERIOD
TIME
TEAM
DETAILS
SCORE
06:23
St. Louis
MacKenzie MacEachern (6) ASST: Ryan O’Reilly (26), David Perron (19)
0-2
18:10
Edmonton
James Neal (16) ASST: Zack Kassian (12), Leon Draisaitl (37)
1-2
Elliotte Friedman is speaking the truth right now. Even if the officials called half penalties that McDavid draws, the #Oilers would double their power-plays.
TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors are expected to confirm today that Vince Carter’s No. 15 will be the first number to be retired by the NBA franchise.
Carter will attend an MLSE Foundation event this afternoon at the renovated Vince Carter Court at a park in the city’s northwest end.
Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri will also be on hand along with some current players and city officials.
Reports this week said that Canada’s lone NBA team would honour Carter on Nov. 2 when Toronto plays the Sacramento Kings at Scotiabank Arena.
Carter, an eight-time all-star, played parts of seven seasons with the Raptors. He was named NBA rookie of the year in 1999 and won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000.
He was the Raptors’ first superstar and is credited for raising the profile of the team and igniting enthusiasm for basketball across Canada.
Carter guided the Raptors to the Eastern Conference semifinal in 2001. Toronto had a chance to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 but Carter’s shot at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced out.
He asked for a trade in 2004 and was dealt to New Jersey in a mid-season deal that saw the Raptors receive little in return. The Nets, who are now based in Brooklyn, plan to retire Carter’s number in January.
Carter played 22 seasons in the NBA before retiring after the 2019-20 season. He’ll be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame next month.
The Raptors are celebrating their 30th anniversary this season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 58th home run, going deep for the fifth straight game to help the New York Yankees wrap up their second AL East title in three years with a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Giancarlo Stanton had four RBIs that included his 27th homer, Alex Verdugo also homered and Gerrit Cole outpitched Corbin Burnes in a possible postseason preview. Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.
New York assured itself a first-round bye and home-field advantage in a best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 5.
Baltimore, which clinched a postseason berth by winning Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series, will be in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
Stanton homered in the second to put the Yankees ahead and hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth.
Judge hit a two-run homer in the seventh against Bryan Baker and has 144 RBIs, the most in the major leagues since Ryan Howard’s 146 in 2008. Judge matched his career best by homering in five consecutive games.
Making his last start before the playoffs, Cole (8-5) allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 3.41. He struck out Anthony Santander with a 98.1 mph fastball that ended the eighth after plate umpire David Rackley called a ball on the previous pitch, a knuckle-curve that appeared to be just above the strike zone. Cole glared as the umpire as the pitcher walked back to the dugout.
Cole was given a standing ovation when he walked to the dugout with two outs in the seventh and tipped his cap to the crowd of 42,022.
Burnes (15-9) allowed two hits in five innings, one walk and nine strikeouts — including eight on cutters. Burnes came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start the Orioles’ postseason opener on Tuesday. He had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.
Stanton lofted a slider at the bottom of the strike zone into the left-field seats after missing badly at a slider on the prior pitch.
Austin Wells, in a 4-for-42 slide, forced in a run when he walked with the bases loaded against Cionel Pérez. Stanton drove the next pitch on one hop to the wall in right-center for a 5-1 lead. Stanton has 72 RBIs after hitting 6 for 18 with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in his last five games.
Anthony Rizzo added a two-run single against Baker.
Emmanuel Rivera hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the Orioles.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (2-9, 5.59) starts a series opener at Minnesota on Friday, when LHP Pablo López (15-9, 4.11) will be on the mound for the Twins.
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.98), 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA since the All-Star break. starts Friday’s series opener against Pirates RHP Jared Jones (6-8, 4.14).
OTTAWA – Noah Ostlund scored the overtime winner for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 pre-season win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Buffalo’s lineup had a combined total of just over 100 NHL games of experience as most of its regular roster is in Munich, Germany for the upcoming Global Series Challenge.
Felix Sandstrom made 14 saves for the Sabres (4-0-0). Josh Dunne and Isak Rosen had the Buffalo goals.
Adam Gaudette and Noah Gregor scored for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made his first start in a Senators (3-1-0) uniform and didn’t disappoint, stopping 28 of 29 shots through 30 minutes of play.
Dustin Tokarski made 10 saves over a period and a half.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 7:55 after Carter Yakemchuk made a great defensive play to create a turnover. Gregor was then sent down the wing and he beat Sandstrom on the glove side.
Buffalo tied the game at the 10-minute mark. Vsevolod Komarov made a cross-crease pass to Dunne who stepped into the faceoff circle and beat Ullmark.
Buffalo had a 24-5 edge in shots after the first period.
Gaudette gave Ottawa the lead midway through the third with a power-play goal that was set up by Yakemchuk. Rosen tied it with 40.7 seconds remaining.
The Senators were expected to make a number of cuts after the game to reduce the size of their roster.
NOTES: The Sabres were given a special exemption from the league before the game. Teams usually have to dress a minimum of eight NHL veterans, but Buffalo didn’t have any in its lineup.
UP NEXT: The Senators will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in Sudbury, while the Sabres will head to Columbus on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
