Sports

Kane notches hat trick, lowly Blackhawks beat Maple Leafs

Published

1 month ago

February 19, 2023

Harry Miller

CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane had his ninth career regular-season hat trick, rookie Cole Guttman scored the game-winner and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 Sunday night.

Max Domi had a goal and three assists for the Blackhawks, who won their second straight following a three-game losing streak and climbed out of last place in the NHL. The Maple Leafs had won two straight, including a 5-2 romp over the Blackhawks on Wednesday in Toronto.

Guttman scored his first NHL goal by beating Ilya Samsonov over the blocker with a hard wrist shot from right wing with 8:18 remaining to break a 3-3 deadlock.

“A dream come true,” said Guttman, who was playing for Denver University this time last year. “My initial thought was pass, but I think the D took it away.”

Mitch Marner had tied it 3-3 on a set play 7:38 into the third period. He raced into the Chicago zone when Morgan Rielly sent a hard dump-in off the boards. Marner picked it up, cut hard to the net, and swung a backhand past Jaxson Stauber before he could react.

Cole Guttman goes end-to-end for first-career goal, gives Blackhawks lead over Maple Leafs

Kane has been the subject of trade rumours all season as the Blackhawks try to position themselves to win the draft lottery. He had been goalless in seven games before scoring twice at Ottawa on Friday, and followed that up with his ninth three-goal game in regular-season play. He has 14 goals in 52 games.

“I’ve only seen vintage Patrick Kane on TV,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “Good to see it live. He’s definitely been playing with confidence and swagger.”

Kane opened the scoring with a wicked wrist shot 10:44 into the first period beating Samsonov from the left-wing circle.

It was the Blackhawks’ eighth shot on goal, and they didn’t get another until 7:57 of the second period, when Kane took a pass from Domi and beat a screened Samsonov from 20 feet.

Kane completed the hat trick 12:49 into the second, corralling a puck behind the Toronto net and caroming it off Samsonov’s backside. A replay review proved the puck crossed the goal line completely, which set off a cascade of hats from the standing-room crowd of 20,979 at United Center.

Acciari buries loose puck in tight for his first goal with Maple Leafs

“The last couple of games I’ve been getting some looks, and it’s nice to capitalize on them,” Kane said. “A couple times out there, you just get chills with the way the crowd’s into it with the position we’re in. They want us to win.”

Of his gut feeling on a possible trade, Kane said, “I don’t know. If I knew that, I think I’d make a decision already.”

Domi, who scored an empty-net goal with 1:16 to play, matched a career high with his assists on Kane’s three goals. Kane set up the empty-netter.

“Obviously the key component to that game was giving up way too many odd-man rushes, giving them too many clean looks to our net,” Marner said.

Toronto’s John Tavares tied the game 1-1 on a power play 2:08 after Kane’s first goal, tipping in Rielly’s shot from the left point past Stauber.

“I just thought we were clearly a very tired group right from the start and made tired mistakes,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said, noting the Leafs played Saturday night. “When you’re tired, you’ve got to be really smart and structured and all of that. Some of the clean looks we gave up tonight are the result of not being smart.”

Stauber made 31 saves, Samsonov had 23.

Noel Acciari, picked up by Toronto on Friday in a three-way trade with Minnesota and St. Louis, scored from the left slot to pull the Leafs within 3-2 with 2:14 left in the period. Former Blackhawk David Kampf grabbed a high pass from Alexander Kerfoot, threw it to the ice and fed Acciari.

Patrick Kane nailed trade deadline audition with hat trick performance vs. Maple Leafs

TOEWS OUT INDEFINITELY

Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, who missed his seventh straight game Sunday, said he was suffering from both long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome, the latter having sidelined him for the shortened 2020-21 season.

“In the last few weeks, it has reached the point where I had no choice but to step back and concentrate on getting healthy,” Toews said. He had skated on his own earlier in the week but had to stop.

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Quick Reaction: Wizards 104, Raptors 114 – Raptors Republic

Published

5 mins ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

	O. Anunoby37 MIN, 29 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 11-21 FG, 4-10 3FG, 3-4 FT, 3 BLK, 1 TO, 18 +/- From the opening tip OG was a force offensively and continued to flash the self creation signs that everyone wants to see, he had a career high 18 in the first quarter and hit a lot of tough jumpers off the bounce, as well as spaced the floor with catch and shoot triples.
	P. Siakam34 MIN, 19 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 7-17 FG, 1-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -3 +/- Pretty poor game from Pascal by his standards, a lot of shots seemed forced and he couldn’t finish through contact, very well, his playmaking also was muted because he seemed to be hunting his own shot.
	J. Poeltl26 MIN, 12 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 6-9 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 7 +/- Jakob’s floaters and push shots worked wonderfully tonight and he did a great job not rushing it like he does most games, offensive rebounding was also key as well, Jakob had 6 in this game which led to countless second chance points.

	S. Barnes32 MIN, 13 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL, 5-14 FG, 0-2 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Solid game in his first game back from injury, hit some tough looks in the paint, passing looked good tonight as well, efficiency was a bit off but we can chalk that up to being rusty.
	F. VanVleet36 MIN, 28 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL, 10-21 FG, 5-9 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 11 +/- Offensive masterclass from Fred VanVleet, he was zooming all over the floor and he was really burning Washington with his outside shooting, but his playmaking shined really bright tonight as well.
	W. Barton04 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/- Left the game early with an injury.
	C. Boucher22 MIN, 6 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Boucher was battling on the class yet again and often gave Toronto an extra look tonight, he also was solid as a rim protector as well.

	J. Dowtin Jr.19 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 14 +/- Didn’t add a whole lot offensively but he was harassing guys on ball as a defender, and moving the rock well as well, would like to see Dowtin look for his own a bit more often
	C. Koloko15 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 3 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 7 +/- Koloko entered the game by recording a steal and then a block on back to back possessions, and then he continued to play solid defense in drop coverage, really strong game for the rook.
	M. Flynn07 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-3 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -10 +/- Didn’t take advantage of his looks on the floor tonight.
	P. Achiuwa06 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -10 +/- Another rough night for Precious as he tries to regain his footing, just couldn’t find it defensively, ran the floor in transition just fine during limited time.
	Nick Nurse Although Toronto was healthier, Nurse didn’t force anyone into minutes that were going to damage the team.

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Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors Live Score and Stats – March 26, 2023 Gametracker – CBS Sports

Published

2 hours ago

March 27, 2023

Harry Miller

TORONTO (AP) O.G. Anunoby scored 29 points, Fred VanVleet had 28 and the Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 114-104 win over Washington Wizards on Sunday.

Pascal Siakam had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Anunoby had 11 made baskets, two shy of his career-high. All four of his 3-pointers came in the first quarter.

“O.G. obviously had it going tonight,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

Ninth-place Toronto clinched the three-game season series with the Wizards and maintained a three-game lead over 11th-place Washington in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams have seven games remaining.

Toronto and Atlanta have identical 37-38 records, but the Hawks won two of three against the Raptors this season to clinch the tiebreaker.

Scottie Barnes scored 13 points in his return to the starting lineup after missing two games because of a sore left wrist as the Raptors won for the ninth time in 10 home games.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points and Corey Kispert had 19 for the Wizards, who have lost eight of 10.

Washington made 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points for Toronto, and was outscored 27-11 in second-chance points.

“Our ball security wasn’t where it should be,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “Obviously they thrive in that area. We allowed their strengths to beat us.”

Deni Avdija and Johnny Davis each scored 15 points for Washington and Daniel Gafford had 10.

The short-handed Wizards played without guard Bradley Beal (left knee) for the third straight game, while forward Kyle Kuzma (right ankle) sat for the fourth straight game. Washington was also without guard Monte Morris (left groin).

“Right now, those guys are a level higher,” Porzingis said of Toronto. “ Us without our main guys, it’s a difficult task.”

Anunoby almost single-handedly outscored the Wizards with a career-high 18 points in the first quarter as Toronto led 37-21 after one. Anunoby shot 7 for 10 in the first, making 4 of 6 from long range.

“He got hot,” Porzingis said. “He was hitting 3’s, he was hitting some post-up shots. He was hitting everything else.”

Held scoreless in the opening quarter, Siakam scored 11 points in the second to give the Raptors a 63-46 halftime lead.

Porzingis scored 12 points in the third as Washington outscored Toronto 38-24. The Wizards closed to within a point, 80-79, on a 3 by Davis with 2:16 left in the quarter, but were unable to take the lead. Toronto took an 87-84 lead to the fourth.

Anunoby scored five points as the Raptors opened the fourth with a 13-3 run to restore their double-digit lead.

TIP-INS

Wizards: Shot 1 for 8 from 3-point range in the first quarter, but went 15 for 28 over the final three quarters. Washington shot 8 for 12 from long range in the third. … Former Raptor Delon Wright shot 2 for 9 and scored five points. Wright had eight assists and seven rebounds. … Lost their fourth straight road game. … Avdija had nine rebounds and seven assists.

Raptors: F Precious Achiuwa also returned after missing two games because of a sore right hamstring. … G Gary Trent Jr. (right elbow) sat for the third straight game. … G Will Barton left in the first quarter because of a sprained left ankle and did not return.

SPIN TO WIN

Barnes forced a steal and finished with a 360-degree dunk for his first basket of the game.

“I thought it was great,” Anunoby said.

MAGIC TOUCH

Toronto has won or tied the past 12 season series with Washington. The Raptors lost three of four to the Wizards in 2007-08.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS

The Raptors won without trailing for the fifth time. They also did it Dec. 7 against the Lakers, Jan. 12 against Charlotte, Jan. 28 at Portland, and March 14 against Denver.

UP NEXT

Wizards: Host Boston on Tuesday.

Raptors: Host Miami on Tuesday. —

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

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