If a picture indeed tells a thousand words, Evander Kane holding seven fingers in the air after scoring an empty-net goal told plenty about the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The Oilers fought off elimination and forced a deciding game.
Kane’s second goal late in the third period put an exclamation point on the Oilers’ 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series.
Edmonton will host the winner-take-all game Saturday night. In a series during which the road team has won four times, Kane likes his team’s chances.
“It’s gonna be juicy,” said Kane, who also had an assist, about what type of atmosphere he expects back north.
Tyson Barrie scored the go-ahead goal and Connor McDavid added two goals and an assist.
WATCH | Barrie’s winner lifts Oilers over Kings:
Barrie’s winner lifts Oilers over Kings to force series finale
9 hours ago
Duration 1:00
Edmonton avoids elimination with a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles and forces a deciding Game 7 on Saturday.
Kane has seven goals in the series to tie Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel for the league lead. He is the seventh Edmonton player to score at least seven times in a series and the first since Esa Tikkanen in 1991.
Kane gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead at 1:50 of the second period when he redirected Brett Kulak’s shot from the point past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. The left wing then added an empty-net goal with one minute remaining and flashed the seven fingers to the crowd.
It was Kane’s way of getting even after Los Angeles’ Adrian Kempe cupped his hand to one of his ears Tuesday night in Edmonton after scoring the winning goal in overtime.
“He must not have liked the celebration in our building after they had scored. I think Evander plays with emotion and he’s looking forward to the next game,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said.
Game tied at 2
The game was tied at two before Barrie snapped a 19-game playoff goal drought at 14:50 of the third with a snap shot inside the far post after getting the pass from Leon Draisaitl.
“Yeah, just kind of saw the puck turn over, I think, and we’re headed the other way and for whatever reason there was a big gap between me and Leon and I just saw that I could jump in and kind of make it an odd-man (rush),” said Barrie, whose last postseason goal was in 2019 with the Colorado Avalanche. “He made a nice little sauce over to me and kind of got lucky to beat Quick there. You know, he’s been playing great and so far out. So just kind of a nice to see that one go in.”
Kane said even though the Oilers squandered a two-goal lead, there was still plenty of confidence as the third period progressed.
“I think we were saying all the right things. I was talking about how we were in good shape,” he said. “It’s a 2-2 hockey game in Game 6 in the third period. I liked our chances to score quite a bit.”
McDavid scores on wraparound
McDavid — who has three goals and 12 points in the series — scored on a wraparound 1:40 into the game for his third goal of the series. It was the third-fastest goal by an Edmonton player when facing elimination.
Cody Ceci added a pair of assists and Mike Smith stopped 30 shots for the Oilers, who host the deciding game Saturday night in Edmonton.
Sean Durzi and Carl Grundstrom scored for Los Angeles, which was looking to wrap up its first series since defeating the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. Quick made 33 saves.
“Just timely goals, and I thought we had a good chance there at the end,” said defenseman Matt Roy about the difference in the game. “We just had a little breakdown that led to their third goal, so we just need to minimize those going forward.”
Rookie defenseman Durzi got Los Angeles on the board at 13:59 of the second period on the power play with his first goal of the post-season, a one-timer from the center point.
Grundstrom had the equalizer 29 seconds into the third with a slap shot over Smith’s blocker after getting the feed from Roy for his third.
“It didn’t faze us too much,” center said Anze Kopitar of the early deficit. “I mean, we knew we had to get one on the power play at some point, so that was big. And then, obviously, tie it up pretty early in the third. Just couldn’t push it over the line.”
The Oilers are 6-4 in Game 7s, including 3-1 at home. The Kings are 7-4, with a 5-3 mark on the road.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
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