OTTAWA — Adam Gaudette says he owes goalie coach Ian Clark for his shootout skills.
The Canucks centre scored the first shootout goal of his career on Wednesday to lift the Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
“I have to give credit to (Clark) who gave me a couple of shootout ideas last year, and in practice the other day we were working on it as well. I just had a move in my mind and stuck with it,” said Gaudette, who deked around Filip Gustavsson and tucked it inside the near post.
Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, while Brock Boeser also scored in regulation for Vancouver (15-16-3).
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, who had 30 saves on the night, improved to 7-1 in March.
“He seems so confident in there,” Gaudette said. “I knew Thatcher many years ago and I could always tell he was something special and it’s great to see him really coming out and playing well. He’s huge for us right now and he’s only gonna get better.”
Ryan Dzingel and Josh Norris scored for the Senators (10-20-3), who lost goaltender Joey Daccord to an injury in the third period.
The Canucks’ victory was their third in a row, sixth in their last seven outings, and fifth against Ottawa this season. The Senators, meanwhile, have won just twice in their last nine games.
Playing their second of a four-game road trip, the Canucks opened the scoring for the second consecutive night, when Horvat drove down the wing after a sloppy Ottawa pass attempt, and found Boeser open in front of the net. Boeser buried his 15th goal of the season — fifth best in the league — at 2:29 of the first period.
Vancouver padded its lead at 8:26 of the first when Thomas Chabot was knocked down at the boards by Nils Hoglander. The ensuing 2-on-1 ended with an easy tip-in by Horvat for his 13th of the year, while a frustrated Chabot was left glaring at the official.
The Senators’ puck movement improved in the second, and it paid off when Dzingel scored his sixth of the season to slice the difference in half at 3:00 of the period.
Much like Monday’s overtime loss to Vancouver, the Senators trailed by two but chipped away at the lead. Norris tied it up at 5:34 of the third with his seventh goal of the season, and third against Vancouver.
“I thought we battled hard to get it back to 2-2. That game could go either way. It’s unfortunate we don’t win,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith.
“It’s a young skilled group over there that’s playing hard right now,” Demko said of the Sens. “So we knew they were going to give us a couple tight games. And they did, took more than 60 minutes both nights.”
Boeser hit the crossbar in overtime.
“Obviously I wish it would have went in, that would have been the easier way to get the extra point,” he said. “But, you know, (Demko) made some big saves for us in the shootout.”
Has Demko’s recent excellent play been a surprise?
“We’ve always had a lot of faith and a lot of belief in (him),” said Canucks coach Travis Green. “And he took some good strides last year, obviously played well at the end of the year, probably wasn’t as sharp as he wanted to be, we’ve talked about that at the beginning of the year, but I don’t think we’re surprised that he’s playing well.
“He’s a good goalie and we believe in him.”
Losing yet another goalie was bad news for Ottawa. Daccord, who had just earned his first NHL victory on Sunday against Toronto, left the game at 5:07 of the third period. Daccord injured his left leg when he stretched across the net, and grimaced while being helped off the ice.
Gustavsson replaced Daccord for his NHL debut.
“It was kind of perfect. You don’t have to think about it. You just jump straight into the game,” Gustavsson said of his debut.
Smith said he wouldn’t know until Thursday the extent of Daccord’s injury.
The Senators acquired goaltender Anton Forsberg off waivers from from Winnipeg earlier in the day to shore up its goaltending depth with both top netminder Matt Murray (upper-body injury) and Marcus Hogberg (lower-body injury) sidelined.
The Canucks, meanwhile, claimed winger Jimmy Vesey off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the day, and the 27-year-old drove to Ottawa and participated in the warmup before being listed as unavailable for the game, due to a work visa issue. As a U.S. citizen, Vesey’s visa only applies to one NHL team. Vesey had five goals and two assists in 30 games with the Leafs.
Vancouver wing Tanner Pearson left the game in the third period.
The Canucks head to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Friday, while the Senators host Calgary on Monday.
The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
