NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist to win a showdown with his older brother, and the New Jersey Devils routed the Vancouver Canucks 7-2 on Monday night.
Nico Daws made 36 saves and the Devils scored three times in each of the first two periods, chasing goaltender Jaroslav Halak with six goals on 14 shots.
Yegor Sharangovich, Dawson Mercer, Jesper Boqvist, Ryan Graves, Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Devils, who put up seven goals for the third time in seven games. Nico Hischier had two assists.
“The team is doing well offensively,” Boqvist said. ”We’re winning a lot of battles, strong on pucks, and we’ve scored a lot of goals lately. So it’s a lot of fun, for sure.”
Quinn Hughes, a defenseman for the Canucks, was held off the scoresheet. Vasily Podkolzin and Tanner Pearson scored for Vancouver.
The Devils have a 12-game winning streak against Vancouver. The last time they lost to the Canucks was Nov. 25, 2014.
“We’ve found a little momentum with the lines we’ve been using and guys can feed off each other,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. ”Their goalie had a little bit of a tough night. We got a little fortunate on some of the early goals, but it’s nice to have the table turned our way.”
The 21-year-old Daws, a third-round draft pick by the Devils in 2020, improved to 3-1-0 this season and won his second straight. He also beat the Penguins 6-1 last Thursday.
“We’re super happy for him,” Boqvist said. “He’s competing hard and wants to stop every puck, so it’s fun to see him doing that in the games as well, too.”
The Canucks, who beat the New York Rangers 5-2 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, lost for the third time in nine games.
“I don’t get the whole back-to-back thing, why it’s tiring,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “That excuse goes out the window.”
The Devils opened the scoring at 9:15 of the first when Jack Hughes fired a wrist shot past Halak for his 16th goal this season. The 20-year-old Hughes, the first overall pick in the 2019 draft, has a seven-game point streak.
It was also his fourth straight multipoint game. The only active players to have longer runs at age 20 or younger are Patrik Laine (five games in 2017-18) and Steven Stamkos (five games in 2009-10).
“He’s got himself in a nice little run. Really, really skating well,” Ruff said of Hughes, who has five goals and eight assists in his last seven games. “He just continues to grow. There’s plays inside the game that really only he can make. Some of the stuff that he does, is because he’s so explosive.”
Sharangovich made it 2-0 at 15:24 with his 13th of the season, with assists to Hughes and Mercer. Sharangovich extended his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists).
“The first line is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Ruff said. ”They like playing with each other. They’ve been able to find each other, and inside, Sharangovich has been able to find the hole, and they’ve been really good at low triangle to get guys in a good position to create inside opportunities.”
Mercer made it 3-0 on the power play with his 13th at 17:44.
The Canucks outshot the Devils 13-9 in the first period but left the ice down three.
“With how fast they play, we didn’t match it at all. It’s unacceptable,″ Canucks forward Conor Garland said. ”We have to play the right way to win. When you’re chasing games, it’s not a recipe for success in the NHL.”
Podkolzin broke through for Vancouver at 1:36 of the second when he deflected a shot from Travis Hamonic past Daws for his ninth goal.
Boqvist answered at 3:08 to restore the three-goal lead for the Devils. The goal was his fifth of the season.
Graves made is 5-1 at 5:07 before Bratt scored again for New Jersey at 6:19. Bratt’s team-best 19th goal ended Halak’s night as Thatcher Demko replaced the 36-year-old netminder, who headed straight to the dressing room.
Demko made 18 saves in relief.
“To not come out as well as we are supposed to come out is shocking to me,″ Boudreau said. “The speed they had, they were coming at us pretty good, and we weren’t adjusting to it.”
Bratt, who also assisted on Mercer’s goal, leads the Devils with 50 points.
Pearson narrowed the deficit to 6-2 with his 11th goal at 8:14. Pearson has nine points, including five goals, in his last 12 games.
Canucks leading scorer J.T. Miller assisted on Pearson’s goal. Miller has a six-game point streak and has five goals and 11 assists in his last nine games.
Hamilton completed the scoring for the Devils with his eighth goal at 11:42 of the third. It was Hamilton’s first goal since Dec. 29. He was playing his third game after missing 17 with a broken jaw.
NOTES: The Devils haven’t lost to the Canucks at home since Oct. 24, 2013, in a shootout. The teams meet again March 15 in Vancouver. … It was the 4,000th regular-season game in Canucks history, dating to their first season in 1970-71. … The Devils are 6-12-2 against Western Conference teams. … The Devils scratched defensemen Ty Smith, Mason Geertsen and Christian Jaros. … The Canucks scratched Madison Bowey and forwards Jason Dickinson and Phillip Di Giuseppe.
UP NEXT
Canucks: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Devils: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their post-season campaign with a play-in game against the Timbers in Portland on Wednesday.
The ‘Caps (13-13-8) ended the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday and finished eighth in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.
The eighth and ninth spots from each conference meet in a play-in game this week, with the winner going on to face the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
Each eighth-place team was set to host the play-in game, but Vancouver announced Friday that its home stadium, B.C. Place, is not available, so the club will cede home-field advantage to Portland (12-11-11), the ninth-place team.
The ‘Caps and Timbers split their three-game series during regular-season play, with each side taking a win, a loss and a draw.
The first round of the MLS playoffs is set to begin next weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Diego Luna scored a tying goal in the 73rd minute and Real Salt Lake added another on an own goal for a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to set a single-season club record for points.
Real Salt Lake (16-7-11) secured the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and will face Minnesota in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs. RSL reached 59 points this season, topping the 2012 team with 57.
Vancouver (13-13-8) will play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in a wild-card game for a chance to play top-seeded LAFC.
Luna settled a long cross from Braian Ojeda before taking four touches to slot home a shot inside the far post for his eighth goal of the season.
RSL went ahead in the 83rd when Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer misplayed a lofted ball that rolled into the back of the net.
Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 58th to become the first player in club history to produce multiple seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Juan Soto’s arrival last winter was supposed to be that move that pushed the New York Yankees back to the top.
They’re one step away.
Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night.
Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.
Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade from San Diego in December, pushed the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.
This was why he came, for this moment and for so many more.
“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.
The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
In the third consecutive tight game in three nights at Progressive Field, Austin Wells walked with one out in the 10th and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.
Hunter Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.
“I was just saying to myself, `You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything,’” said Soto, who moved alongside his manager, Aaron Boone, as the only New York players to homer in an extra-inning, series-clinching win.
Luke Weaver got the final three outs with Lane Thomas flying out for the last one, which was caught by Soto.
“We get to play for a world championship,” Boone said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
The 25-year-old Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities. He’s expected to get a contract upwards of $600 million, and his heroics in Game 5 may have raised his price.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and was named ALCS MVP as the Yankees took care of the Guardians in five games. It wasn’t easy.
New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.
The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.
“This was a rollercoaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”
Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.
“There’s only one team that gets to win the last game of the year, and unfortunately it’s not going to be us,” Vogt said. “But we accomplished a lot as a group. We got better. We worked extremely hard. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We just didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to.”
The Yankees are back in the World Series, back where their fans expect them to be every year.
The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.
While the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star — accelerated the team returning to title contender.
“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.
Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous DH in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.
It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).
Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.
“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”
But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”
“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.
The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodón on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (elbow strain) had another successful live batting practice session. The reliever remains on track to join the Yankees on their World Series roster. Boone said Cortes would throw again early next week. Cortes went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts.
