Sure, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t deserve a fate any better than their 4-3 overtime loss to the better-dressed Edmonton Oilers Saturday night.
And, yes, the fastest player on the planet will make sure we see the Leafs Reverse Retro sweaters on many a highlight reel to come.
But the Leafs have banked points in seven of their past eight games and still believe their potential is far from fulfilled.
“I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of the best hockey that we can play collectively as a team. That’s always encouraging,” Auston Matthews said post-game, “knowing that we can play a lot better but that we’re still getting points. We’re still winning.”
Here are eight takeaways from the most thrilling of the four Oilers-Leafs matchups we’ve already seen this year.
Oilers wanted it more, needed it more, deserved it more
Zack Kassian had uttered the phrase “must-win.” In January.
So, while it feels a tad premature to slap a do-or-die label on Saturday’s prime-time showdown (showcase?) of some of the game’s brightest stars, certainly the home side needed the two points more than their visitors.
And, boy, did it show.
Edmonton burst out the gates, generating the first nine high-danger chances and thumping the Leafs 18-8 in that department for the night.
“We knew we’d have a motivated group coming out tonight,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Disappointing to not win. But in the grand scheme of things, taking seven out of eight points on the road is never going to be a bad thing for our group.”
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — one-two on the scorers’ leaderboard once again — put on a show, creating highlights that will get play long beyond the weekend.
Frankly, were it not for stellar close-range stops and some determined response goals by Toronto’s own top playmakers (William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Matthews), this thing would’ve never sniffed OT.
Afterward, Matthews was asked if it was fun going head-to-head with his off-season training partner two games in a row.
“I don’t know if I’d describe it as fun, but it’s always a challenge,” Matthews said. “It’s always a challenge going up against that amount of talent and speed coming at you.”
The Rush
McDavid is a one-man power play.
Watch how he slices through all four Maple Leafs skaters, plus goalie Frederik Andersen, on this third-period strike. Then feel free to retrieve your jaw from the floor.
This is how McDavid’s victims viewed it.
Hyman: “We could’ve defended it better. I think that I was the first guy up, and I’ve got to take away speed a little bit and give Hollsy, (Jake Muzzin) and Mitch (Marner) a little bit more time kind of wedge him out of the middle. But, you know, once he gets that time and space, he’s a special player, obviously. So he can make moves like that.”
Justin Holl: “There’s different things that we could’ve done differently, for sure. The forward could wedge in the middle a little bit better. I think I could push him a certain direction better. Maybe start skating forwards, so I at least can try to chase him down. But obviously that’s a tall order on McDavid.”
Andersen: “I felt a little bit flatfooted in the situation. Obviously, (I should) try to take a little bit more ice maybe and challenge him a little bit more.”
Holl: “He’s always creating scoring chances for himself. You know it’s gonna happen, you just do your best to limit what he gets…. He’s a terrific player, so that’s just part of the deal sometimes.”
Message to Leafland: Don’t get down on Dermott
On a night it was revealed that two players have requested trades out of Canadian towns — Calgary’s Sam Bennett and Montreal’s Victor Mete — it was notable that Leafs coach Keefe went out of his way to address Travis Dermott being a healthy scratch for half of the Alberta trip.
“For me, he’s a guy that hasn’t deserved to sit out and have to come out of the lineup,” Keefe said. “But much like some of the rotations we’ve had in the fourth line here, the only way to get people in is to take people out.
“We’re actually very encouraged with Dermott’s game. He’s really done everything we’ve asked of him, and lots of positive things about his game. We shouldn’t be reading anything into him coming out other than the fact that we’re just trying to create opportunity for Mikko (Lehtonen) to show what he can do.”
Lehtonen, a man-advantage specialist whom the Leafs lured out of the KHL, notched his first NHL point with a sifter from the point that John Tavares tipped and Hyman swept in. But in these close games — and they’ve all been close games — the Finn has yet to earn his coach’s trust at even-strength.
The 27-year-old import gets sheltered or sat.
“At 5-on-5, again, it’s tough to find him much rhythm here playing on the road. They’re doing their best to get favourable matchups, and they’re looking for it, and you’re trying to protect him and keep them away from two of the best players in the world,” Keefe said.
“He still doesn’t look comfortable out there. We’ve put him in two of the last three games here and given him that opportunity. Now we have a break. And we’ll continue to work with him in some areas of development where we’d like to see him really get better now that we’ve got lots of examples and film of him playing in the NHL.”
Reverse Retro revolt
Alexander Kerfoot said it’s exciting anytime you get to slip on a new jersey.
“Something different is nice for a change. I’m sure the fans will enjoy it,” Keefe said pre-game.
We’re sure some fans did enjoy the tone-on-tone look of the remixed ’80s deep-blue throwbacks with accents of grey, but the general response on social media was less than favourable.
“I like them,” Holl said. “Honestly, I didn’t love them right away. I didn’t know where the grey came from, but they’ve really grown on me. I thought we looked really sharp tonight.”
The people have spoken. We have to hand the Oilers third outfits, with those blood orange pants, the crown.
Even the alternates have alternates
Cool gesture for Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, GM Kyle Dubas and Keefe to collectively decide that veterans Muzzin andHyman would wear an “A” on their sweater for all games played in an alternate sweater. That discussion was had with the players at training camp.
“It’s very clear that Hyman and Muzz are both big parts of our core, big parts of our leadership group. I think our established captains recognize that as well,” Keefe explained.
“For myself, with all the teams, for the most part, that I’ve coached, I believe in trying to recognize the larger group than just what you’re allowed in a particular game, be it a C and two As. I think you need to recognize more people than that when you can, so it was a chance to do that.”
We’re going streaking
Less than two minutes after McDavid’s ridiculous rush, Matthews and Marner worked a pretty give-and-go in tight to extend their personal point streaks.
Marner now has assists in five consecutive games. Matthews has goals in five straight and points in seven straight.
“We have kind of little dips and then we have moments where we’re really on it, are creating a lot of offensive zone time,” said Matthews, who believes there is still another level for his line to reach.
“We just want to stay consistent throughout the 60 minutes and apply pressure nonstop on the other team and collectively play in the offensive zone as much as possible, but it’s always nice to contribute in different ways out there.”
Steady Freddy is better than his numbers
Were you to look at his stats — 3.01 GAA, .892 save percentage — you’d hesitate to get too excited about the work of Andersen in 2021.
But after a shaky first two outings, the Leafs’ No. 1 goaltender routinely came up with the timely save on this road trip, and his denial of Josh Archibald in the dying moments of regulation Saturday salvaged his club a point. Andersen is now 5-2-1 and should benefit nicely from a four-day rest.
“I feel like I’m moving really efficiently. I think after the first few games I figured out how I’m supposed to play and how I play my best,” said Andersen.
His coach’s review has also swung positive.
“The thing here with no exhibition games, it’s tough on the goaltenders to find that rhythm and get comfortable again in the net in a game setting. I think he’s settled in. He looks like he’s in a nice groove,” Keefe said.
“He looks really comfortable, confident in the net. I think we’ve done a real good job in protecting him at 5-on-5 in reducing the number of odd-man chances and really egregious chances against. Yet when we’ve had breakdowns, he’s been there. And then on the penalty kill, it’s always tough on a goalie when you’re taking as many penalties as we are — and he’s been excellent there too.”
Deserved time off
The Maple Leafs (7-2-1) will fly home and stay home for a couple days after what Matthews described as “a shotgun start to the season.”
The Leafs’ next game won’t arrive until Thursday, which feels like an eternity in a 56-game schedule.
Sunday is a full day off for the club. Monday will be optional for the regulars. Two hard practice days will gear them up for a three-game homestand against Vancouver.
“We need to find ways to control play a little bit better and generate more shots, more opportunities offensively,” Keefe said. “Then it’s just details all over the ice, continuing to clean those types of things up. Having back-to-back practice days now for the first time since we’ve broken camp would be a good opportunity for us to do that.
“We expect to bring it to another level when we come back to play after this break.”
MONTREAL – On a night when New York’s top line was missing in action, the bit players grabbed the spotlight and led the Rangers to a commanding 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
“That’s the kind of team we have,” said Filip Chytil, who led the Rangers with a pair of power-play goals Tuesday. “The guys on the top line had chances but when they don’t score we have three other lines to pick up the slack.”
The Rangers’ dominance was reflected in the amount of time they spent in the Canadiens zone and their 45-23 edge in shots.
“If you’ve watched us practice, you know that’s something we work on all the time,” said Chytil. “When we get the puck, we want to hold on to it.”
The Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Mika Zibanejad at the 56-second mark and Jonny Brodzinski at 2:05, but it was Montreal which pressed the play in the first minute.
“I thought we had a good start but they turned it around on us,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
Lane Hutson controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and had two early shots, both of which were blocked by New York’s Jacob Trouba.
“That was huge for us,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. “We know (Trouba) can generate offence but he can come up with those big defensive plays.”
Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault exited at 11:05 of the first period after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Zibanejad, Brodzinski, Chytil and Reilly Smith all scored on the Habs’ starter.
His replacement, Cayden Primeau, stopped 33 of 35 shots, giving up goals to Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil.
Nick Suzuki scored both of the Montreal goals, his first strikes of the season
“It didn’t really feel like a 7-2 game until the end there when you look up at the scoreboard,” Suzuki said. “But we obviously keep digging ourselves these holes, and against a good team like that, our details early on have to be really sharp. And we were definitely a little sleepy coming out and they jumped on us.”
Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:10 but this wasn’t one of his better games. Smith scored on a breakaway after taking the puck off Hutson’s stick and the rookie was minus-4 for the night.
After Tuesday’s morning practice, the Canadiens announced forward Juraj Slafkovsky will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle missed a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury but the team said it isn’t a long-term ailment.
The injury situation didn’t get any better after Trouba flattened Justin Barron at 7:11 of the third period. Barron didn’t return to the ice but there was no immediate word on his condition.
The Rangers welcomed back defenceman Ryan Lindgren, who made his season debut after missing five games with a jaw injury.
Before the game, 14 players from the Canadiens’ team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979 were introduced at the Bell Centre. Among them were Hockey Hall of Fame members Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Ken Dryden.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball has sold at auction for nearly $4.4 million, a record high price not just for a baseball, but for any ball in any sport, the auctioneer said Wednesday.
“We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder,” Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of auctioneer Goldin Auctions said in a statement.
The auction opened on Sept. 27 with a starting bid of $500,000 and closed just after midnight on Wednesday. The auctioneer said it could not disclose any information about the winning bidder.
The auction has been overshadowed by the litigation over ownership of the ball. Christian Zacek walked out of Miami’s LoanDepot Park with the ball after gaining possession in the left-field stands. Max Matus and Joseph Davidov each claim in separate lawsuits that they grabbed the ball first.
All the parties involved in the litigation agreed that the auction should continue.
Matus’ lawsuit claims that the Florida resident — who was celebrating his 18th birthday — gained possession of the Ohtani ball before Zacek took it away. Davidov claims in his suit that he was able to “firmly and completely grab the ball in his left hand while it was on the ground, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball.”
Ohtani and the Dodgers are preparing for Game 1 of the World Series scheduled for Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James gave his 20-year-old son a pep talk before they rose from the Lakers bench. Amid rising cheers, they walked together to the scorer’s table — and then they stepped straight into basketball history.
LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ season opener, fulfilling a dream set out a few years ago by LeBron, the top scorer in league history.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, it’s a moment I’m never going to forget,” LeBron said. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
Father and son checked into the game against Minnesota simultaneously with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a big ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone. The 39-year-old LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before he teamed up with his 20-year-old son for about 2 1/2 minutes of action.
LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, a four-time champion and 20-time All-Star, while LeBron James Jr. was a second-round pick by the Lakers last summer. They are the first father and son to play in the world’s top basketball league at the same time, let alone on the same team.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though,” father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
Their time on court together was fast and furious, just as LeBron promised.
LeBron, who finished the night with 16 points, missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early offensive rebound and missed a tip-in, and his first NBA jump shot moments later was a 3-pointer that came up just short. He checked out one possession later with 1:19 left in the second quarter, getting another ovation.
“(I) tried not to focus on everything that’s going on around me, and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up,” Bronny said. “But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
After the final whistle on the Lakers’ first opening-night victory in LeBron’s seven seasons with the team, father and son also headed to the locker room together — but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife and Bronny’s mother. The entire family was in attendance to watch history — on little sister Zhuri’s 10th birthday, no less.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. also were courtside at the Lakers’ downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers played 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991 as baseball’s first father-son duo.
LeBron first spoke about his dream to play alongside Bronny a few years ago, while his oldest son was still in high school. The dream became real after Bronny entered the draft as a teenager following one collegiate season, and the Lakers grabbed him with the 55th overall pick.
“I talked about it years and years ago, and for this moment to come, it’s pretty cool,” LeBron said. “I don’t know if it’s going to actually hit the both of us for a little minute, but when we really get to sit back and take it in, it’s pretty crazy. … But in the moment, we still had a job to do when we checked in. We wasn’t trying to make it a circus. We wasn’t trying to make it about us. We wanted to make it about the team.”
LeBron and Bronny joined a small club of father-son professional athletes who played together. The Griffeys made history 34 years ago, and they even homered in the same game on Sept. 14, 1990.
Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines and his namesake son also accomplished the feat with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.
In hockey, Gordie Howe played alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the WHA’s Houston Aeros and Team Canada before one NHL season together on the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, when Gordie was 51.
While the other family pairings on this list happened late in the fathers’ careers, LeBron shows no signs of slowing down or regressing as he begins his NBA record-tying 22nd season.
LeBron averaged more than 25 points per game last year for his 20th consecutive season, and he remains the most important player on the Lakers alongside Anthony Davis as they attempt to recapture the form that won a championship in 2020 and got them to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
Bronny survived cardiac arrest and open heart surgery in the summer of 2023, and he went on to play a truncated freshman season at the University of Southern California. He declared for the draft anyway, and the Lakers eagerly used the fourth-to-last pick in the draft on the 6-foot-2 guard.
LeBron spent the summer in Europe with the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, while Bronny played for the Lakers in summer league. They started practicing together with the Lakers before training camp.
The duo first played together in the preseason, logging four minutes during a game against Phoenix just outside Palm Springs earlier this month.
“It’s been a treat,” LeBron said at Tuesday’s morning shootaround. “In preseason, the practices, just every day … bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about, and how to prepare every day as a professional.”
The Lakers were fully aware of the history they would make with this pairing, and coach JJ Redick spoke with the Jameses recently about a plan to make it happen early in the regular season.
The presence of the Griffeys likely made it an inevitability for opening night, even though Redick said the Lakers still wanted it “to happen naturally, in the flow of the game.”
The Lakers have declined to speculate on how long Bronny will stay on their NBA roster. Los Angeles already has three other small guards on its roster, and Bronny likely needs regular playing time to raise his game to a consistent NBA standard.
Those factors add up to indicate Bronny is likely to join the affiliate South Bay Lakers of the G League at some point soon. LeBron and Redick have both spoken positively about the South Bay team, saying that player development is a key part of the Lakers organization.
Miami forward Kevin Love, who knew all the James children — Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri — from his time as LeBron’s teammate in Cleveland, said it was “an unbelievable moment” to see father and son playing together.
“I grew up a Mariners fan, so I got to see Griffey and then Griffey Sr. But this is different, because LeBron is still a top-five player in the league,” Love said. “This game, man. It’s why we have that ($76 billion) TV deal. The storylines and the things that happen like this, it’s an unbelievable story. This is really cool to see.”
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed.
