Whatever can go wrong will go wrong…and did.
That was the Edmonton Oilers in Carolina Wednesday night, from pretty the opening faceoff until they came out for the 3rd.
Sports
Godawful start results in 6-3 Oilers loss to Canes
Speaking of “regrettable”, the officiating in this one (while it had zero meaningful bearing on the outcome) was brutal.
Here’s the tale of the tape…
Edmonton Oilers Player Grades
STUART SKINNER. 2. Victim of a wild double-deflection on the 1-0 and then again on a 2-on-1 break for the 2-0. Was also on the bad end of a weak play and a 3rd deflection although Skinner lost his post on the 3-0. But the 4-0 he needed to have, coming from both some width and distance. And that is when he got the hook (at 5:14) in favor of Calvin Pickard. On a night when the pre-game commentary was that Skinner needed to turn in a quality start, he did not come close to that bar. But he also did not have much help.
CALVIN PICKARD. 6. Pickard was left to his own devices on the 5-1. Good glove save on Brett Pesce as the latter moved in off the point. Got a bit lucky on a hit post with the net wide open. But then made a few good saves down the stretch to give his team a chance to claw back into it. The best of those was just an excellent toe stop off Kotkaniemi late in the 3rd. Stopped 13 of 14. Hard to ask much more from a guy who hasn’t even been in the NHL in 2 years. Calvin Pickard currently leads the Oilers in SV% (.891).
CONNOR McDAVID. 4. Thought the officials missed an obvious trip behind the Carolina net on the play that turned into the 4-0. Guilty of puck watching on the 5-1. Fed Draisaitl for a scoring chance late in the 2nd. Won a battle against Burns and set up Hyman for the 5-3. Handed a soft-as-butter interference call after a missed slash at the other end. Ended the night -3.
WARREN FOEGELE. 4. Beat the puck square during the first half of the game. Drew the PP on the 4-1. A hard rush led to a 2nd Period shot. An assist on the 5-2. Blocked shot late in the 2nd.
DARNELL NURSE. 4. A late arrival to the game. A puck came off the crossbar in warmup and struck him, forcing repairs but also a significant cleanup of his bloodied uniform. Set up Kane for a dangerous chance deep into the 3rd. Was not great but I give him some benefit of doubt considering how the night started out for him.
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 5. Good back-check in the 2nd. At he showed some emotion as he tracked down Orlov after the latter had flattened Hyman with a questionable hit. Was penalized for his efforts but in a 5-1 game that is a penalty you’ll take. Very good 3rd Period backcheck. Secondary assist on the 5-3. Was decent, showed a pulse.
ZACH HYMAN. 7. Fine effort to eliminate a 3-on-2 in the 1st Period but took a penalty in the process, which his mates killed off. Managed to roof his own rebound on a fine pass from Draisaitl on the 4-1. Hit a post with his own rebound in the 3rd. The, steered home a pass from McDaid after a fine effort by 97 deep in the Canes zone. Drew a call late but the Oilers could not capitalize. 5 shots, 5 more shot attempts. The “best” Oiler in a team effort that fell well short.
MATTIAS EKHOLM. 5. An awful turnover on the 2-0 exacerbated by the fact that an Oilers forward failed to fall back as Ekholm rushed the puck. Had failed to clear the zone with time and space a couple shifts prior. Charged hard to the net and chipped home the 5-2 shorty. But then another turnover late in the 2nd. Enjoyed a decent flow of play (5v5 CF 20-14, 59%) and a share of HIgh Dangers (8-4 5v5) But not sure the fancy stats paint an entirely accurate picture of his performance.
EVAN BOUCHARD. 5. A well-timed pinch led to a good shot. Then a very fine “top-to-bottom” pass to Draisaitl who slid it across to Hyman for the 4-1. An O-zone turnover forced him into a slashing call, in order to break up an odd-man rush. A 3rd Period shot off a McDavid pass. Did quote a few good things with the puck, reasonably limited the damage on defence.
RYAN McLEOD. 5. A hard charge toward the net on the PK led directly to the Ekholm 5-2 goal. A lot of his skating early in the game was on the perimeter. He had a bigger impact on the game when he turned “inside” more.
DEREK RYAN. 5. Good defensive stick on the 1st Period PK. Another fine play along the wall on a 2nd Period kill. Set up McLeod for a good chance in the 3rd, then same shift could not bury on a set-up from Foegele. One of the few Oilers to turn in a full 60-minute effort.
CODY CECI. 5. Broke even in High Dangers For/Against 5v5 (4-4). Probably the best Oilers D-man on a tough night, and to be fair to Ceci…he has arguably been their steadiest defender all year.
VINCENT DESHARNAIS. 4. Walked badly on the 4-1. Teamed up with Ryan for a good 2nd Period kill. Blocked shot on the PK. 3rd Period turnover after repeated efforts to punch the puck out of the zone. 3rd Period shot block.
PHILIP BROBERG. 3. Got knocked off the puck behind his own goal line and then when he did manage to retrieve the puck he banked it off a forward skate and right to a Hurricane on the 3-0. Showed precious little elsewhere.
JAMES HAMBLIN. 4. 3rd Period shot, albeit on a play where he could not hit the open net a second earlier. Not especially impactful past that.
CONNOR BROWN. 4. An uncharacteristic defensive error by him on the 2-0 as he slid too deep to cover on the Ekholm turnover. A decent chance off a Draisaitl setup in the 3rd.
Edmonton falls to 5-12-1, 11 points. Washington is next.
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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.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer:
Sports
Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says
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.
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AP NBA:
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