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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs got a scare in a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night when star forward William Nylander left the game midway through the first period after taking a knock to the head.

He was held out for the rest of the game for what the team called “precautionary reasons.” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Nylander avoided serious injury and would be OK.

“Willy will be fine,” said Berube. “Nothing to worry about.”

Nylander was the latest Maple Leafs star to suffer an injury scare, as Auston Matthews departed practice this week with what Berube deemed an upper-body ailment. Matthews did not play on Thursday.

John Tavares and Nick Robertson scored for Toronto in the Maple Leafs’ first win of the pre-season. Christian Dvorak tallied for Montreal.

The Maple Leafs outshot the Canadiens 33-17.

Nylander was tripped up in the neutral zone and hit in the head by a passing Montreal player as he fell. The 27-year-old went straight to the dressing room after the play.

Tavares opened the scoring midway at 10:12 of the first period by tipping home a deft touch-pass from Mitch Marner. It was the fourth point for Tavares in two games.

“There were better sides to our game,” Tavares said. “The way we played, all three zones, we were a little more connected. The pace of our game was better. Moving the puck better.

“I liked the way that we were getting in on the forecheck.”

Dvorak pulled Montreal even at 5:39 of the second period after taking advantage of a slick feed from Alexandre Barre-Boulet at the Toronto blue line.

Dvorak held off Maple Leafs defender Morgan Rielly and tucked the puck between goalie Anthony Stolarz’s legs.

Robertson had two breakaways later in the period but both were turned aside by Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes.

Robertson eventually capitalized with the winner at 18:04. He stripped the puck from Canadiens defender Adam Engstrom, drawing a penalty in the process, and beat Dobes between the legs.

“Heck of a play,” said Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorenz. “That’s just hard work, not giving up on a play. And it shows a maturity for a young guy like him. Coming on the backcheck and stripping the guy, going in and on the first three strides getting some separation and getting a great shot on the guy’s five hole.

“I get tired just watching him. He’s a good little player.”

Matt Murray took over for Stolarz in the third period for his first game action since suffering a hip injury on April 4, 2023. He stopped all seven shots he faced.

“He’s had a good summer, healthy summer,” Berube said of Murray. “He was able to train and do the things he needs to do. You know, this guy has won a couple (Stanley) Cups. He knows how to win. He’s a good goalie.

“So, I think it’s just kind of progressed from the summertime through to camp here now. He looked solid. He’s a big guy, takes up a lot of net.”

Stolarz had nine saves and Dobes made 32 stops.

COMING UP

The Maple Leafs and Canadiens will face each other again on Saturday in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

CALGARY – Allyson MacNutt produced the biggest upset yet in a curling event that provides a stage for toppling heavyweights.

MacNutt’s team from Halifax, which will represent Canada at the 2025 world junior curling championship, defeated four-time national women’s champion Kerri Einarson 8-6 on Thursday at the PointsBet Invitational.

“So much fun. I’m freaking out,” MacNutt declared.

The round of 16 in Curling Canada’s PointsBet features junior, college, university, under-25 and club champions taking on some of the top teams in the country.

The single-knockout format of an event that offers just over $350,000 in prize money is unforgiving of early-season rust and rewarding for an unheralded team that’s hot at the right time.

The 14th-seeded MacNutt went toe-to-toe with the third-seeded Einarson at WinSport Arena.

She and teammates Maria Fitzgerald, Alison Umlah and Grace McCusker shot 84 per cent as a team to the Einarson foursome’s 74. MacNutt posted a 90 per cent to Einarson’s 71.

MacNutt led 7-6 on a miss from Einarson in the eighth end. After a blank ninth, MacNutt’s draw rubbed off a rock and rolled to the button.

Einarson’s attempted raise to remove it and score with her final throw of the 10th gave up another steal of one.

“It’s definitely tough,” Einarson said. “They played really well. They made a lot of great draws and we missed quite a few opportunities.

“We can’t take anything away from them. They played really well and we didn’t.”

MacNutt and teammates were such fans of Einarson, they asked for a group photo with her team before warm-up Thursday.

A couple hours later, it was MacNutt advancing to the quarterfinals and not Einarson.

“It’s crazy watching them on TV growing up and now, like playing against them, and beside all of these amazing teams, and just like having a great game, it’s just so insane,” MacNutt said. “I’m like, speechless right now.”

All 32 teams receive $5,000 to defray travel expenses.

A first-round win is worth $3,000, a quarterfinal is $6,000, a semifinal is $12,000 and $24,000 goes to Sunday’s men’s and women’s victors for a total take of $50,000 for those teams.

MacNutt will face Kate Cameron, who was an 8-5 winner over Jolene Campbell, in Friday’s quarterfinal.

Kayla Skrlik meets Chelsea Carey, Kaitlyn Lawes takes on Selena Sturmay and defending champion Rachel Homan is up against Corryn Brown in the other women’s quarterfinals.

Brad Gushue squares off against Rylan Kleiter, Kevin Koe faces Jordan MacDonald, Brad Jacobs plays Owen Purcell and Mike McEwen meets Felix Asselin in the men’s quarterfinals.

The 11th-seeded Asselin ousted defending champion Reid Carruthers 5-4 on Thursday evening with a tiebreaking draw-the-button that is part of the PointsBet format.

McEwen thumped national junior men’s champion Kenan Wipf 11-3, second seed Jacobs defeated college champion Jacob Horgan 9-2 and Purcell was an 11-6 winner over Aaron Sluchinski.

Einarson was without her usual front end in Calgary. Shannon Birchard, who is nursing a knee injury, was replaced by Laura Walker.

Birchard won’t be available to the team at next week’s season-opening Grand Slam, the HearingLife Tour Challenge, in Charlottetown.

“I’m not exactly sure how long she’s out for, but we’ll see,” Einarson said. “No surgery. She just needs a lot of physio.”

Krysten Karwacki has been Einarson’s lead since the eve of February’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Einarson’s regular lead Briane Harris is awaiting the outcome of an appeal of a doping violation that she says was due to inadvertent ingestion.

“Laura is a great fill-in,” Einarson said. “She’s a great addition to the team to fill in for Shannon, but it does change a little bit of our dynamics.

“We did our best with what we could do, and always a lineup change is tough.”

Skrlik beat Danielle Inglis 9-2 and Carey was a 10-4 winner over Canadian women’s club champion Abby Burgess in the afternoon draw.

Second-seeded Carey, who is skipping retired Jennifer Jones’s former team, admitted that it can be uncomfortable playing an underdog with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“It’s big pressure on the top-seeded teams,” Carey said. “It almost can feel like a no-win situation, because if you win, everybody goes, ‘Well, yeah, of course they won.’ And if you don’t, then everybody goes, ‘Well, what’s wrong with them?'”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.